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Why Cryptocurrency Regulation Could Be Good NewsFebruary 6, 2018 – Cryptocurrencies have had a volatile start to 2018, driven by investor anxiety over the potential of increased regulation and rumours of a cryptocurrency ban in countries such as South Korea. However, some investors are optimistic about regulation and how it will reinforce the future of cryptocurrencies over the long-term. Fred Pye, CEO of 3iQ, believes investors should be looking forward to regulations as cryptos are now a legitimate asset class. “People that are looking at bitcoin as a solid store of value for the future because of its ease of use and transferability will not be bothered by regulation. Every time someone has put regulation into Bitcoin it has rallied.” By introducing cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin into a client portfolio, an investment advisor can successfully diversify and hedge their clients’ existing assets. “It’s a beautiful, non-correlated asset with a Sharpe ratio of 3. It should be in every client’s portfolio without question. But they can’t do it themselves because it is very complicated to buy and sell bitcoin in any size, that’s why we try to create investment products.” Read the full article here. |
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Cryptocurrency Prices Bounce On Senate HearingFebruary 6, 2018 -In a Senate Banking Committee hearing this week, SEC chairman Jay Clayton and CFTC chairman Christopher Giancarlo discussed the future of the US’s role in regulating cryptocurrencies and cryptocurrency exchanges. The hearing was quite optimistic towards the cryptocurrency space overall, conveying a need for a more coordinated effort to help support the growing industry rather than hamper it. The news was taken as a positive catalyst by the market, and a strong bounce in cryptocurrency prices quickly followed the hearing. A large focus of the hearing was discussion of increased consumer protection pertaining to ICO’s and unregulated exchanges. The unregulated nature of cryptocurrency exchanges does not provide consumers with a large degree of protection and safeguards. Consumers are easily misled into believing these markets are regulated in the same way that traditional security markets are regulated. In addition, there is growing concerns over ICO “fraudsters” and the lack of repercussions for misleading and defrauding consumers. Giancarlo stated that he believes every ICO he has seen is a security, whether they call themselves one or not, and should therefore be under the crosshairs of enforcement. Read the full article here. |
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Hedge Fund Manager: Bitcoin Has Bottomed and is Under-OwnedFebruary 8, 2018 – Institutional appetite to gain exposure to cryptocurrencies is rising, says Dan Morehead, founder and CEO of Pantera Capital. With most hedge funds, pensions, and private equity firms sitting on the sidelines, the price of Bitcoin continues to march without much institutional support. Morehead believes that the price of Bitcoin should return to its highs within the next couple of weeks and continue higher from there. “It’s a half-a-trillion-dollar asset class that nobody owns. That’s a pretty wild circumstance. Bitcoin is still so under-owned by institutional investors that it trades at its own beat”. Back in December, he successfully predicted that Bitcoin would fall by 50 percent before the next big surge. Many crypto prices had a sharp bounce this past week, with Bitcoin trading back above $8,000 on Thursday. Morehead said that this may be the bottom for Bitcoin. Read the full article here. |
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Nvidia CEO: Cryptocurrencies are “Not Going to Go Away”February 9, 2018 – The world’s largest graphics chipset manufacturer, Nvidia, has had a spectacular rise in share price over the last three years. Demand for GPU’s has continued to accelerate rapidly, and new crypto mining operations around the world continue to fuel this demand. The company posted its fourth-quarter results on Thursday after market close, and had a strong positive reaction to their share price the following morning. On the earnings conference call, there were positive discussions regarding the role of cryptocurrencies. The company said that chipset demand from cryptocurrency miners exceeded expectations, but overall the market segment remains small. Jen-Hsun Huang, the CEO of Nvidia, urged that “Crypto is a real thing — it’s not going to go away”. Huang also praised the benefits of the technology behind cryptocurrencies. He stated that there is “clearly real utility” with blockchain. Colette Kress, Nvidia’s CFO, mentioned that it was hard to quantify exactly how much revenue the company made from sales to cryptocurrency miners. Read the full article here. |
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Canadian Banks to Continue Allowing Crypto PurchasesFebruary 5, 2018 – Canadian banks are keeping their doors open to the purchase of bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies on their credit cards, even as major US banks are moving to block such transactions. In the past weeks, JPMorgan Chase & Co., Bank of America Corp. and Citigroup Inc. have halted the purchase of cryptocurrencies using their credit cards, limiting clients to fund their cryptocurrency accounts by other means such as debit card or bank transfers. This sudden policy change has prompted major Canadian banks to provide commentary, over fear they will follow suit. Canada’s largest lender, Toronto-Dominion Bank, states they will permit cryptocurrency purchases using TD credit and debit cards as long as the merchant is authorized to accept these transactions. Other major Canadian banks such as the Royal Bank of Canada and Bank of Nova Scotia have provided similar statements, indicating they will not be enacting policy changes to cryptocurrency purchases for the foreseeable future. Read the full article here. |
