Posts tagged “NEWS” (Page 2)

Reports have emerged that the G20 Summit is expected to deliberate on the Cryptocurrencies’ and ICO Markets’ activities in-depth. The Finance Ministers and Central Bank heads from the world’s top 20 wealthiest nations will be paying attention to the emerging use of Cryptocurrencies as security. The G20 communique draft read in part “cryptocurrencies lack the traits of sovereign currencies.” The communique suggests that the finance ministers and central bank chiefs from the most advanced countries in the world are already in consensus that the currencies are assets.

The summit being convened in Buenos Aires, Argentina is held in the wake of increased tax evasion by corporates and individuals who convert their wealth to Cryptocurrencies to evade taxation. The ICO Markets have seen increasing participation since the September 2017 debut. Hundreds of startup Blockchain technology firms have made tens of thousands of tax-free dollars ever since. In particular, Filecoin raised a total of close to $300,000 in its ICO venture.

However, the agenda of the summit-recognizing Cryptocurrency as assets-departs from the various regulators’ mission of regulating ICO Markets and Cryptocurrencies for economic growth, investment protection and capital formation for startup firms. While some countries like China have banned Cryptocurrencies, India shows non-commitment in addressing the issue, the SEC of US, AMF of France and FCA of the UK have initiated a policy to make up the process of developing ICO markets and Cryptocurrencies in their respective economies.

Hosted by President Mauricio Macri. The G20 summit will be attended by leaders of about forty-five countries and regional organizations. The attendees will represent the US, Canada, Russia, China, India, Japan, France, UK, Germany, South Africa, Brazil, Indonesia, Turkey and South Korea. Additionally, the European Union (EU), African Union (AU) and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) will be represented by their respective presidents. The G20 members are a powerful Economics and Financial coordination force in the world as they collectively generate 85% of the world’s GDP and represent over 70% of the world’s population. Formed in 1999, the G20 has been, over the years, adopting decisions to regulate emerging global issues from a global standpoint.

What To Expect

As per the draft communique, it is expected that the G20 will deduce that Cryptocurrencies are assets. With such a proclamation, they will advise Economic and Financial leaders to introduce regulations that are customized for the specific markets. The summit will, further, propose approaches to imposing capital gains taxes on ICO markets to raise public revenues. In so doing, the ICO markets and Cryptocurrencies will be accepted as an emerging business idea.

Not only will such an endorsement prompt China to lift the Cryptocurrency ban, but we are likely to see a future lift on the Cryptocurrency advertisement bans by Google and Facebook. Most importantly, the world will get clarity of Cryptocurrencies and the way they can be exploited for the economic benefit both in the macroeconomics and microeconomic spheres.

Finally, we are likely to see a timely conclusion on the part of the US House of Representatives Committee of Finance Subcommittee on Capital Markets, Securities and investment process of enacting laws to regulate this new industry. The prices of Cryptocurrencies are likely to surge to unprecedented levels following this “endorsement.”

Paris, France. The l’Autorité des Marchés Financiers (AMF), the financial markets regulation body for the French government, is seeking to support the development of ICO markets in France’s capital markets. On March 15, the financial regulator initiated a process of drafting proposals to the National Assembly. A French news outlet Les Echos reported that the mission of the regulator is to develop ICO Markets in France. This step is a recognition of ICOs as an emerging approach to capital formation in the world’s fifth largest economy in nominal terms.

This process comes in the wake of March 14 hearings convened by the U.S. House of Representatives Committee of Finance Subcommittee on Capital Markets, Securities, and Investments – The equivalence of AMF. The U.S government is also seeking to enact laws and regulation to govern the ICO Markets in a bid to optimize the benefits that start-up technology firms can reap. The US hearings are primarily consultative and involve a considerable number of multi-disciplinary professionals ranging from the industry managers, financial law experts, and economists. It is widely believed that the US government will endorse ICO Markets and regulate them effectively.

In full support of the AMF, the Ministry of the Economy and Finance in the nation of 65 million people as at 2017 welcomed the move. The ministry lauded the move and called for hasty recognition of ICO Markets as a new channel for capital formation. The ministry officials advised the AMF to consult with all stakeholders such as in the US, to achieve a sound regulatory framework that will not be prohibitive to any market player. The officials, however, cautioned the AMF to approach the matter with caution, as ICO Markets are risky ventures: Not tested against time.

This recent development is surprising to the ICO Markets in France; this is because the AMF had banned some ICO Market’s websites and 15 Cryptocurrencies from operations on suspicion of fraud. Additionally, last week saw the Google ban on all Cryptocurrency adverts from its AdWords advertisement platform effective from June 2018. ICO Markets were skeptical as some countries like China had banned the Cryptocurrency activities, and France was believed to follow suit.

It is now becoming evident that the US and France governments have endorsed ICO Markets and Cryptocurrencies as investment opportunities for the future. With such development, the World Bank may revert its earlier caution on ICOs and instead partner with economies in developing ICOs and Cryptocurrencies.

The AMF expects that by the end of the deliberative process, a system for authorizing ICO Market activities will be in place. The investors of ICOs will also be protected, as the offers will be pegged on guarantees.

More countries are expected to develop frameworks for managing ICO Markets in the coming days. Nations like Russia, Venezuela, Bulgaria, and others have already put in place sound policies to regulate ICO Markets and cryptocurrencies. These success stories will have a significant impact on many governments’ stances to ICOs. With Korea rethinking her ICOs ban, we might see China also uplifting their prohibition.

Initial Coin Offering Regulation Concerns

Following Google’s ban on Cryptocurrency’s advertisements effective June 2018, the Initial Coin Offerings are starting to experience bearish trends characterized by significant value shed offs on Cryptocurrencies, the unit of account in ICOs. These trends come in the wake of the U.S. lawmakers’ concerns about ICOs: Advocating for unexplained policy formulations to guide the ICOs. Washington, on 7th March 2018, raised these concerns about ICOs during the DC Block Chain summit presentation posing a set of concerns about the ICO offerings, currently on offer in many developed financial markets.

James Sullivan, the Deputy President Department of Commerce and International Trade Administration portfolio was the presenter at the summit. He demonstrated that the U.S government was in full support of Blockchains’ role in raising finances for start-up organizations in stock exchanges. He was, however, of the idea that all stakeholders should collaborate in streamlining the trade. His allusions were premised on the U.S. Securities and exchange commission report “Statement on Potentially Unlawful Online Platforms for Trading Digital Assets” that warns investors of fraudster platforms characterized by unregulated activity.

In the summit themed “Examining Cryptocurrencies and ICO Markets,” Republican Bill Huizenga and Democrat Brad Sherman, in a rare show of unity, raised concerns on lack of concrete policies and regulations on ICOs. Unlike the IPOs that were guided by a series of market regulations, requirements and restrictions, ICOs were just operating on self-regulation. Brad Sharman pointed out that ICOs will enable terrorists and outlaws to launder money across borders and affect national securities of America and various nations. On enforcing this sentiment, Bill Huzeinga called for intensive oversight on ICOs and the entire Cryptocurrencies operation.

Reading Between The Lines

The markets did not react to these concerns. Instead, the Cryptocurrency markets were bullish amid increased activity in ICO offering across the globe. Pundits were of the opinion that the Washington concerns had evoked growing investor confidence in ICOs as a real investment option solely by the U.S. government’s recognition. They forecasted that the future trends are likely to be bullish as investors anticipate a highly lucrative and regulated market in the foreseeable future.

Additionally, the Pundits pointed out that the U.S administration was exhibiting clear commitment in collaborating with the market players in policy formulation. The effort was evident as Jihan Wu, Co-Founder of Bitcoin, made a presentation that neutralized the anti-ICOs atmosphere following SEC report of possible fraud. Jihan’s acknowledgment that ICOs were crucial in creating capital for startups and mid-level firms whose money was in the form of Cryptocurrencies resonated with James Sullivan’s assortment that the entire Blockchain has to be improved through concerted efforts.

What to expect

The ICOs will be regulated in the near feature as the U.S. has recognized the role they play in business capital creation. The financial markets will react positively to policies that will be formulated by the administration to streamline and regulate the operations. More investors will be interested in ICOS. The summit will result in a series of discussions that will see U.S. institutions that regulate the financial sectors and legal spheres develop a set of regulations. Most importantly, it is evident that the Cryptocurrencies and ICO Markets will not be declared illegal as the U.S. government is exhibiting positive intentions of regulating and developing these ventures.

The dominant Cryptocurrency, Bitcoin, registered signs of improvement in the financial markets on Thursday’s, 15th March 2018, afternoon trading session. Interestingly, this improvement is not precipitated by Google or Facebook withdrawing their ban notices on ICO trades: They have not withdrawn the ban. As Thursday’s trade session nears closure, the Bitcoin is trading at $8,241.52 having achieved a high of $8,788.00 and a low of $7,682.00 in the second half session. Other Cryptocurrencies such as Ether, Bitcoin, Zcash, Dash, Litecoin, Monero, etc. just to mention a few are following suit and registering improvements in the second session: Having shed-off value in the morning session following damaging publicity earlier this week.

What This Means For Initial Coin Offerings

From the Investors perspective, 15th March 2018 afternoon trading session recovery is a promising indicator of future surges in Cryptocurrency coins and token prices. Appreciation of Cryptocurrency values signals investors to participate in ICO trade in financial markets, as the value of tokens/coins will increase leading to higher returns on investment.

Firms who are offering initial coin offering are skeptical about the future of their biddings. With the growing descent from quotas criticizing all Cryptocurrency related activities and many governments deliberating on the way forward in regards to policy formulation, the market is likely to experience more shocks. However, the resilience of the market is quite evident and more firms will consider this factor. Firms like Basic attention, Aragon, and Status Um have raised around $35 million; $30 million and 270 million in record times will inspire more firms to seek funds on ICOs. Most notably, FileCoin, a startup company raised $200 million through an ICO and similar success stores will encourage most forms to issue ICOs.

Additionally, the markets will experience more significant precautionary measure as investors become more aggressive in interrogating the firms’ business ventures to determine their viability. Investors will not only be attracted to the possibilities of Cryptocurrency price surges in the future but also the businesses’ structures. Internal organization, goals, mission, vision, budgets, location, targeted markets, and legal factors will complement the expectations in interest payouts as a factor to consider when investing in ICOs.

The firms will streamline their mode of operations to appeal to prospective investors. Just like the firms that bid their stocks in stock exchanges, these firms offering ICOs will formulate a code of conduct for themselves in anticipation of enactment of regulation laws by governments. These firms will be readily accessible to the public, and they will adopt a culture of openness.

What This Price Increase Means To Regulation Authorities, Google, Facebook, And The Service Industry

The matter of fact is that Google and Facebook services are dominant across regions and have billions of users globally subscribing to them. ICO market analysts had allayed fears that with the damaging bans, the prices of the crypto coins would crash leading to the collapse of ICOs. Investors, Business entities, business developers and financial analyst can now conclude that it is only the policymakers in governments who can directly determine the performance of ICOs in the coming days. Pundits purport that it is difficult to foresee the level of increase in trade volumes in ICO Markets, following intense public outcry for regulations, but one outcome is expected-increased activities albeit depressed.