Bitcoins Short-Lived Spike; Russia Gets Tougher On Crypto – Forbes

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Bitcoin has been hovering close to $10,000 for more than a month.

Bitcoinsurged past $10,000to a peak of $10,429 Monday evening,its highest point since February, as protests against racial injustice rocked the U.S. But it only stayed there for less than 24 hours before asudden collapse toward $9,000on Tuesday. Coinbase, the largest exchange in the U.S.,once again crashedamid the volatility

Bitcoin enjoyed modest gains the rest of the week, but a sustained move above $10,000remains elusive. It has approached that level several times since the beginning of May and surpassed it on two occasions,seemingly uncorrelatedwith typical market-moving news.

One prominent bitcoin analyst, who goes by the pseudonymPlanBand tweets models to more than 100,000 followers, is still bullish, expecting the price tohit $100,000by the end of 2021.

Source: Messari. Prices as of 3:30 p.m. on June 5, 2020.

Popular podcasterJoe Rogan rebuked Google GOOGL s targeted advertisingon his podcast this week, referencing a $5 billion lawsuit that was just filed against the search engine giant, andoffered the cryptocurrency-powered Braveas an alternative. Brave launched in 2017 after a $35 million ICO, andusers receive tokens for voluntarily watching adsfrom partner brands, but it otherwise blocks ads and website trackers. It has15 million monthly active usersand has added 1.5 million in the last two months.

The Russian government posted an updated version of its proposed law regulating digital assets this week,adding more restrictionsto the industry. The law wouldprohibit the circulation of all cryptocurrencies, as well as their mining and advertising, though simply owning it will not necessarily be a crime. Some Russian crypto enthusiasts are hopeful that there isstill room for interpretationin the law to allow for regulated security token offerings in the future.

JPMorgan hascome a long waysince CEO Jamie Dimon called bitcoin a fraud in 2017. A new book set to be released in January 2021,Kings of Crypto, reveals that Dimon has been holdingsecret meetings with Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrongsince 2018. TheWall Street Journalreported in May that JPMorgan is offering its services to Coinbase and rival exchange Gemini, and Americas biggest bank launched its own stablecoin last year.

Plus, startups like BitTorrent, Audius and VideoCoin are already using blockchain to help entertainers distribute content and live-stream events.Heres howblockchain cansupercharge the burgeoning streaming economyon a larger scale.

Blockchain forensics firm CipherTrace revealed that there was anuptick in crypto thefts in the first five months of 2020in its spring anti-money laundering report, though coronavirus-related frauds offeringfake PPE productsto lure victims were not the main cause. Most of the money stolen can be traced to one WoToken Ponzi schemer who defrauded more than 715,000 people of about $1 billionworth of crypto at current prices.

Expecting a spike in bitcoin? Investors say it may take time [Reuters]

Bitcoin Die-Hards Revisit Roots With Virtual Conference Giveaway [Bloomberg]

Meet the U.S. Senate Candidate Whos Invested in Bitcoin Since 2013 [CoinDesk]

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Bitcoins Short-Lived Spike; Russia Gets Tougher On Crypto - Forbes