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!
Crypto Is a More Disruptive Innovation Than the Web
Jeremy Allaire, CEO of Circle, and Sean Neville, Co-Founder and President, went on Reddit for an “Ask Me Anything” (AMA) to answer questions the community had for them. From his answers, it is very clear he is still very bullish on cryptocurrencies and how they can impact the world. While in the short term prices have dropped off of a cliff, in the long term he expects this technology to dominate.
“In my view, crypto is a much more significant and disruptive innovation than the Web, and its impact on society, politics, economics, governance will be far far greater for humanity over time.” -Jeremy Allaire
To read more about Jeremy Allaire’s AMA here: https://altcoinbuzz.io/crypto-news/blockchain-technology/crypto-is-a-more-disruptive-innovation-than-the-web/
“2019 Should Be The Year That A Bitcoin ETF Launches”
Bitwise Asset Management has filed for a physically held Bitcoin ETF with the SEC on January 10th. This ETF will track the Bitwise Bitcoin Total Return Index, which includes not only the price of Bitcoin but also any “meaningful hard forks.” The actual Bitcoin will be held by a regulated custodian and the price of Bitcoin will be based on data taken from large trustworthy exchanges.
One of the brains behind this ETF is John Hyland who was part of the team who helped create the first crude oil, gasoline, heating oil, and copper ETFs.
Read more about Bitwise’s ETF proposal here: https://altcoinbuzz.io/crypto-news/finance-and-funding/2019-should-be-the-year-that-a-bitcoin-etf-launches/
EU is Gearing Up For Union Wide Regulation
The EU is looking to establish EU-wide regulations in regards to ICOs and crypto assets. The European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) believes that the current gaps prevent effective controls for both new and existing crypto assets. Thus far, the EU has been careful not to over-regulate cryptocurrencies and hopefully, this approach continues.
Read more about EU cryptocurrency regulations here: https://altcoinbuzz.io/crypto-news/regulations/eu-is-gearing-up-for-union-wide-regulation/
CoinFLEX Is Ready to Offer Physically Delivered BTC Futures
CoinfloorEX is preparing to offer the Asian market a physically delivered Bitcoin futures market, CoinFLEX. CEO of CoinFLEX, Mark Lamb, claims that in February Asian retail investors futures contracts for Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Bitcoin Cash with up to 20x leverage. Even though there is a lot of controversy surrounding this stable coin, their contracts will be traded against Tether.
Read more about CoinFLEX’s futures contracts here: https://altcoinbuzz.io/crypto-news/finance-and-funding/coinflex-ready-offer-bitcoin-futures/
XRP goes ‘Down Under” as FlashFX Adopts Ripple’s Cryptocurrency
Ripple has announced that 13 new financial institutions have been added to the list of RippleNet users and one of the institutions is already using XRP. Flash FX is a payment transfer platform from Australia and xRapid (Ripple’s product that utilizes XRP) believes that sending money across borders should be as simple as sending a text message. Objectively, it is crazy that it takes days to send money to other countries when an email or text can get there in seconds.
“This was the NEWS” summary!
2019 has only just begun but there is already a lot of good news, even though the price hasn’t shown much positive movement. While there is no guarantee that a Bitcoin ETF will be approved this year, the Bitwise ETF and the Van Eck ETF have a decent shot at it, especially the Bitwise ETF. On the Bitwise team, they have John Hyland who was also part of the teams that created the first crude oil, gasoline, heating oil, and copper ETFs. So if anyone could manage to create the first ETF of a new asset class, it is him.
Last year Brad Garlinghouse said “Last year some notable critics said financial institutions would never use a digital asset in their payment flows. As I said then if it offers their customers a better experience at a lower cost, they will – and they are.”
Ripple has added 13 new institutions to their RippleNet and more importantly, Flash FX is using xRapid (which uses XRP) for their cross border payments. This technology is much better than any current technology our banks use. That is why people like Jeremy Allaire, CEO of Circle, are still bullish long term on this space
