In “This was the NEWS” we take a look at the most important news of last week. What has happened in the crypto space over the last 7 days? News items that you may have missed and you really need to read. You will find it here!

  1. Will The Token Taxonomy Act Bring Regulatory Clarity? Investors Hope So

U.S. Congressmen, Warren Davidson and Darren Soto, have proposed a bill, Token Taxonomy Act, that brings more regulatory clarity to cryptocurrency markets. Currently, regulators use the Howey Test to determine if an asset is a security or not. This test was developed in 1946 and many people feel this is not a good way to determine if digital assets are securities or not.

An important part of the bill would create a de minimis exemption from taxation for gains realized during an exchange. This would allow users to buy goods and services with their crypto and not have to pay taxes on small dollar amounts.

Read more about the Token Taxonomy Act here: https://altcoinbuzz.io/crypto-news/regulations/will-the-token-taxonomy-act-bring-regulatory-clarity-investors-hope-so/

  1. “Ignore the Price, 2018 Has Been a Fantastic Year for Bitcoin” According to Spencer Bogart from Blockchain Capital.

Cleary 2018 has been forgetful, in terms of price, but there have been many improvements made to the digital asset, the biggest is Lightning Network. Lightning Network allows Bitcoin to scale using a second layer solution to allow for near-instant Bitcoin transactions. While it isn’t ready for full adoption, this technology is maturing by the day and is constantly getting stronger.

Read more about Spencer Bogart’s interview here: https://altcoinbuzz.io/crypto-news/spotlight/ignore-the-price-2018-has-been-a-fantastic-year-for-bitcoin-according-to-spencer-bogart-from-blockchain-capital/

  1. South Korean Government to invest $18 Million in Blockchain Projects

South Korea is one of the biggest proponents of cryptocurrencies. In 2018, the South Korean government invested about $10 million into blockchain projects and plan on raising that amount to $18 million in 2019. Having government support is imperative for this space to mature and flourish, hopefully, other countries will follow.

Read more about the South Korean government investments here:https://altcoinbuzz.io/crypto-news/blockchain-technology/south-korean-government-to-invest-18-million-in-blockchain/

  1. Western Union Exploring Crypto Possibilities?

The remittance industry is worth hundreds of billions of dollars due to the slow inefficient technology the banks currently use. It takes days, if not weeks, to send money across borders that use a different currency, and it costs a significant amount too. Cryptocurrencies can make that same transfer in a fraction of the time at a fraction of the cost. Hopefully, Western Union and other banks start adopting this technology to save users the large transaction fees it costs and time it takes to send.

Read more about Western Union exploring cryptocurrencies here: https://altcoinbuzz.io/crypto-news/finance-and-funding/western-union-exploring-crypto-possibilities/

  1. Facebook Launching Its Own Stablecoin For Whatsapp!

Facebook is looking to create their own stable coin for money transfers for their messaging app Whatsapp. This service will first launch in India, where the government hasn’t been all that friendly to the concept of cryptocurrencies. This would be huge for getting people and businesses accustomed to the idea of accepting cryptocurrencies in their everyday lives.

Read more about Facebook’s stable coin here: https://altcoinbuzz.io/crypto-news/spotlight/facebook-launching-its-own-stablecoin-for-whatsapp/

“This was the NEWS” summary!

Bitcoin has seen a pretty significant bump in price over the past week, close to $4,200 at the highs and around $4,050 at time of writing. While we are a long ways off from the highs of 2017, it is nice to see some green in the markets (just in time for Christmas).

There was a lot of good news this week, most importantly was the Token Taxonomy Act being proposed in the U.S. Many countries look to the U.S. for regulatory guidance so it is very important for the maturation of cryptocurrencies for the U.S. to view cryptocurrencies in a friendly light.

Piggybacking that, South Korea is actively investing government money to fund blockchain projects and is set to invest $18 million in 2019. South Korea has one of the largest cryptocurrency adoptions among their citizens. Their government views cryptocurrency positively, hopefully, they can put forth regulations that will help this technology mature.

The last three stories we looked at all had to do with mass adoption and businesses utilizing cryptocurrencies to better their businesses.

While it is not clear if Western Union will use a cryptocurrency for their remittance payments, just the possibility of it happening shows how far this space has come in the past few years. Cryptocurrencies would lessen the financial burden on users and decrease the time it takes to send payments across borders.

Facebook creating a stable coin is good as a news story for getting people used to accepting cryptocurrency payments but I personally don’t see this as a “good” thing. Facebook has many issues protecting users privacy and if they create their own proprietary coin, it will be no different than any other centralized product. They will retain control over users funds and can choose when payments will be blocked and can choose to limit who you send funds too.

Last but not least, Spencer Bogart gives his opinion that investors should ignore the price drop of Bitcoin over the last year and look at what has been going on in the background, most importantly Lightning Network. In the run-up of Bitcoin’s price in 2017, fees and block times rose dramatically. Lightning Network (when it is completed) will allow for near-instant payments with low fees. This technology will play a big part in the adoption of Bitcoin.

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