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. A Former Congressman Calls On SEC to Declassify Crypto as Securities

George Nethercutt Jr., Republican House of Representative from 1995 – 2005, published an article for The Hill explaining that while State Department officials are paving the way for innovation, the SEC is slowing the process. Many businesses are stuck in limbo due to lack of regulations.

“It’s time policymakers share that approach, allowing innovation to continue to flourish.” -George Nethercutt Jr.

Read more about George Nethercutt Jr’s article here: https://www.altcoinbuzz.io/crypto-news/regulations/a-former-congressman-calls-on-sec-to-declassify-crypto-as-securities/

  1. Leading Crypto Asset Manager Grayscale Launches Stellar Lumens Trust

On January 17th, Grayscale Investments tweeted out that they will be adding Stellar Lumens (XLM) as a product called the Grayscale Stellar Lumens Trust. This is the ninth product they have added, the others being Bitcoin, Ethereum, Bitcoin Cash, Ethereum Classic, Horizen, Litecoin, XRP, and Zcash.

“We are pleased to bring Grayscale Stellar Lumens Trust to market and will continue to provide investors access to established blockchain projects with substantial traction and resources. Grayscale has established a leadership role in this emerging industry and the launch of this product will expand our coverage of the digital asset universe.” -Michael Sonnenshein, Managing Director at Grayscale

Read more about Grayscale’s products here: https://www.altcoinbuzz.io/crypto-news/finance-and-funding/leading-crypto-asset-manager-grayscale-launches-stellar-lumens-trust/

  1. Ethereum Upgrade – Constantinople Hard Fork Delayed

Ethereum’s hard fork was originally scheduled for block height 7,080,000 on January 16th but due to vulnerabilities found with the code, the hard fork has been pushed back. It was a good thing that this vulnerability was detected because it could have caused a problem for the second biggest cryptocurrency.

UPDATE: The new fork is scheduled to take place at block height 7,280,000 on February 27th, 2019.

Read more about Ethereum’ hard fork here: https://www.altcoinbuzz.io/crypto-news/product-release/ethereum-upgrade-constantinople-hard-fork-delayed/

“This was the NEWS” summary!

The biggest problem for regulators is how to govern this space properly. They appear to be taking their time in order to make good decisions but many people feel that they are going too slow. Many countries look to the US and large European countries for regulatory advice, yet there has been very little action taken.

With a lack of regulation, innovation has more incentives to go abroad to countries like Malta where positive regulations are already in place. This isn’t good for western societies if innovation keeps leaving.

On the other side of the coin, this is a huge opportunity for smaller countries to allow this innovation to thrive within their borders. This can help uplift their economies and create more jobs and other types of income they wouldn’t have had.

They key for this market turn around is going to come with positive regulation. Established businesses won’t risk violating the law so there is little incentive for them to enter the space until that uncertainty is gone.

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