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Bitcoin & Gold Are Doing the Same Thing in Coronavirus Crisis: Pomp – Cointelegraph

Posted on March 18, 2020 by admin

On March 14, Tyler Winklevoss, the co-founder and CEO of Gemini and prominent early Bitcoin investor, took to Twitter to defend Bitcoin despite the recent market crash.

In the tweet, Tyler emphasizes that Bitcoin is still in its infancy, stating:

If bitcoin isn't gold 2.0, then what is it? The fact that it's not acting how you might expect only underscores just how early it is.

Supporting Winklevoss assertion, Anthony Pompliano, the co-founder and partner at Morgan Creek Digital, has attributed the recent crypto market meltdown to a broader liquidity crisis coursing through the global economy. He said:

Bitcoin and gold are doing the same thing, just as you would expect them to in a liquidity crisis..they go down. Same thing happened to gold during liquidity crisis of 2008 too.

As in 2008, the metals markets have suffered enormous losses as a result of the current liquidity crisis, with gold futures falling 4.25% and silver futures crashing 8% in a single day on Indias markets. Over the past week, gold is down about 10% compared to Bitcoins (BTC) 50% while becoming increasingly correlated since January.

Bitcoin-gold realized correlation. Source: Skew

In a recent episode of his Off the Chain podcast, Pomp argues that the shutting down of economic activity in response to the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic has sparked a liquidity crisis driving down the prices of Bitcoin and gold despite their status as a safe-haven asset.

A liquidity crisis means that investors all rush to the exit doors at the same time, but there are so many more sellers than buyers that investors actually have a hard time offloading their assets for cash. Quite literally, investors begin aggressively lowering the price they are willing to accept for each asset in exchange for the cash which they are desperately seeking right now.

Pomp points to the 30% crash in the price of gold during the 2008 global financial crisis, stating: This [wasnt] because gold is a bad store of value or that it had lost safe-haven status after 5,000 years. It [was] because gold has a liquid market and investors needed liquidity over anything else.

Despite golds sudden drop in price, the Morgan Creek Digital co-founder notes that the price of gold nearly tripled in five years from $650 in 2006 to more than $1,800 in 2011 as concerns regarding U.S. monetary policy, inflation, and debt increasingly gripped the markets.

Simply, gold served as a store of value and safe-haven asset over the full timeline of the crisis, but it succumbed to the liquidity crisis during the worst 6 months. This is what I believe is happening to Bitcoin right now.

Pomp asserts that most investors who were holding Bitcoin for cash likely sold over the last week driving the huge losses recently sustained across the crypto markets.

While hesitating to guarantee that BTC will not see deeper local price lows, Pomp speculates that most investors who are still holding Bitcoin are holders of last resort who will not sell their BTC.

Regardless of price movements in the USD exchange value, the holders of last resort wont sell their Bitcoin. They are strong hands. They cant be shaken out of their belief. In fact, they are likely to be buying Bitcoin on these large price drops, rather than selling. They are exchanging USD for Bitcoin right now.

Further, Pompliano expects that the upcoming halving will coincide with the introduction of monetary stimulus measures and may further drive an influx of investors seeking safe-haven exposure.

Predicting interest rate cuts and quantitative easing, Pomp expects that investors will soon seek to weather the liquidity crisis by seeking exposure to sound money and safe-haven assets, adding:

Both gold and Bitcoin should do incredibly well during this time period.

Indian Government Reveals Inspection of Bitcoin Businesses, Informs Parliament of Results – Bitcoin News

Posted on March 18, 2020 by admin

The government of India has informed Lok Sabha, the lower house of parliament, about the Ministry of Corporate Affairs inspection of cryptocurrency businesses. Minister of State for Finance and Corporate Affairs Anurag Singh Thakur provided details of two companies in particular. This follows the landmark ruling by the countrys supreme court which quashed the banking ban imposed by the central bank, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI).

Also read: Bitcoin Legal in India Exchanges Resume INR Banking Service After Supreme Court Verdict Allows Cryptocurrency

Minister of State for Finance and Corporate Affairs Shri Anurag Singh Thakur answered several questions in Lok Sabha on Monday regarding the governments inspection of bitcoin companies. He specifically mentioned two crypto businesses: Zeb IT Services Ltd. and Unocoin Technologies Ltd.

According to Lok Sabhas record, the questions concern fraud by bitcoin companies. Particularly, Thakur was asked about companies dealing in bitcoin that are repeatedly violating rules laid out by the Corporate Affairs Ministry by not filing annual balance sheets.

In his written answer to Lok Sabha, Thakur explained: Bitcoin companies are not defined under the Companies Act. However, the Ministry of Corporate Affairs (MCA) has conducted inspection through Registrar of Companies (RoC), Ahmedabad, in the matter of Zeb IT Services Private Limited to examine the aspect with regard to dealing in bitcoins. He elaborated:

Based on the findings, prosecutions have been filed for violations under various provisions of the Companies Act and the same also have been concluded on payment of penalty on the compounding application(s) filed by the company.

Furthermore, the minister clarified that Zeb IT Services has filed its balance sheet and relevant annual return as of March 31, 2019, adding that the company is under liquidation.

He also revealed that there is another bitcoin company registered with the Registrar of Companies in Karnataka. Unocoin Technologies Private Limited is in the business of developing online market platform to facilitate and conduct buy, sell, store, and accept bitcoins, Thakur told Lok Sabha. He proceeded to confirm that this company is up to date in filing statutory returns and no complaint has been received.

While India still does not have laws to directly regulate the crypto industry, experts have suggested that the Companies Act can be used to indirectly regulate cryptocurrency businesses. Many crypto companies, however, are registered outside of India.

Zeb IT Services operated crypto exchange Zebpay which shut down its Indian operations in September 2018 after the RBI banned banks from providing services to crypto businesses. The company subsequently moved overseas. Zebpay relaunched in India earlier this month with new management. It is now operated by Awlencan Innovations Australia Ltd., a company located in Camberwell, a suburb of Melbourne. The inspection of Zeb IT Services dates back to 2018. In July that year, the Ministry of Corporate Affairs was asked similar questions in Lok Sabha. In his reply, then Minister of State for Law and Justice and Corporate Affairs, Shri P. P. Chaudhary, explained that regarding this company, the Ministry of Corporate Affairs has, vide order dated 15/3/2018, ordered inspection of books of accounts to examine inter alia the aspect of dealing in bitcoin.

The Indian crypto industry has seen many changes so far this year. On March 4, the supreme court quashed the RBIs April 2018 circular that banned regulated financial institutions from dealing in cryptocurrency. The court ruled that this circular was unconstitutional.

Following the supreme court verdict, cryptocurrency exchanges in India resumed INR services. However, some major banks including HDFC and Indusind Bank still refuse to open accounts for crypto businesses as they are waiting for the RBI to provide further instructions regarding the banking ban. HDFC is Indias largest bank by market capitalization.

The RBI is reportedly planning to file a review petition with the supreme court on the grounds that the anonymous nature of cryptocurrency poses a threat to Indias banking system. The central bank has until April 3 to do so. Meanwhile, more global companies have started expanding their operations into India.

Do you think the Indian government has warmed up to cryptocurrency after the supreme court verdict? Let us know in the comments section below.

Disclaimer: This article is for informational purposes only. It is not an offer or solicitation of an offer to buy or sell, or a recommendation, endorsement, or sponsorship of any products, services, or companies. Bitcoin.com does not provide investment, tax, legal, or accounting advice. Neither the company nor the author is responsible, directly or indirectly, for any damage or loss caused or alleged to be caused by or in connection with the use of or reliance on any content, goods or services mentioned in this article.

Images courtesy of Shutterstock, the Deccan Herald, and Anurag Thakur.

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A student of Austrian Economics, Kevin found Bitcoin in 2011 and has been an evangelist ever since. His interests lie in Bitcoin security, open-source systems, network effects and the intersection between economics and cryptography.

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Indian Government Reveals Inspection of Bitcoin Businesses, Informs Parliament of Results - Bitcoin News

Google Pay And Apple Pay Now Usable To Buy Bitcoin And Spend It – CryptoPotato

Posted on March 18, 2020 by admin

Despite the crashing markets, companies are working hard to boost the further adoption of Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies. In two separate announcements, Coinbase and the popular internet browser Opera revealed that theyve made serious strides in this regard.

The leading cryptocurrency exchange in the US, Coinbase, allows its users to get a cryptocurrency card through a partnership with Visa. Now, the card has enabled users to spend Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies directly from their Coinbase account using Google Pay.

Reportedly, this is the very first company that managed to allow users to make mobile payments with cryptocurrencies.

The option is currently available for selected countries such as the UK, Belgium, Finland, France, Italy, Slovakia, and a few other European countries. However, according to Coinbase, the support for the card will expand throughout this year. Its important to note, though, that the card is still not supported on Apple Pay. However, another announcement from today provided help on the matter.

Opera is a popular internet browser that has been working hard to incorporate cryptocurrency payments into its infrastructure.

The explorer now allows US-based users to buy Bitcoin and Ether via Apple Pay and debit cards. In order to do so, Opera has partnered up with Wyre a payments firm that specializes in web-based solutions.

Reports have it that the fees charged by Wyre will be set to $0.30 + 2.9% per transaction. This new feature is available for the three browsers of Opera iOS Opera Touch, Android, and the desktop browser.

Its important to note that the news comes at times when people are seemingly interested in buying Bitcoin.

Data from Google Trends reveals that the searches for Buy Bitcoin are almost in par with those for Buy Gold at the time of this writing. What is more, a few days ago, when Bitcoins price was crashing, searches for the Buy Bitcoin term surpassed those for gold. This indicates that retail interest might be increasing.

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Google Pay And Apple Pay Now Usable To Buy Bitcoin And Spend It - CryptoPotato

Will Bitcoin (BTC) Survive Coronavirus Crisis? Here’s What Billionaire Tim Draper Has to Say – U.Today

Posted on March 18, 2020 by admin

With the number of coronavirus cases growing at a rapid pace, there is a huge cloud of uncertainty hovering over Bitcoin's future. While markets continue to tank and central banks makea coordinated effort to ease monetary conditions, the cryptocurrency is failing to act as a hedge against this chaos.

However, Tim Draper, a billionaire venture capitalist, is convincedthat Bitcoin, not banks or governments, will be able to save the day once this crisis is over.

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As reported by U.Today, Draper famously predicted that the Bitcoin (BTC) price could skyrocket to $250,000 by 2023after it secures a five percent share of the currency market. Given that the flagship coin ischanging hands just above $5,000, this prediction seems unrealistic, but Draper actually called Bitcoin's meteoric rise in 2017 three years before it happened.

The venture capitalist has a knack for spotting disruptive companies. He was an early investor in Skype, Tesla, SpaceX, and other startups that ended up changing the world.

In his recent interview, he described how Bitcoin can change the insurance industry.

"For example, I could start an insurance company with an actuary AI to determine fraud and a smart contract with Bitcoin and put it all on the blockchain."

Must Read

On March 14, Draper criticized world governments for their approach to dealing with the coronavirus. Italy, France, and plenty of other countries are underlockdown with all non-indispensable businesses being closed.

The billionaire explained that more people could die from a crumbling economythan from the actual virus.

Bitcoin is up 24% in 2 days, but its showing two key signs of a local top – CryptoSlate

Posted on March 18, 2020 by admin

The Bitcoin price has recovered by 24 percent in the last 32 hours from around $4,394 to $5,500. It has since stabilized at $5,300, but it is now showing two signs of a local top.

While the Bitcoin price has shown a promising upsurge since March 16 despite the 13 percent drop of the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA), its momentum has slowed down since.

The first technical sign which shows that the Bitcoin price could face a short-term pullback is the rise in price met with declining volume.

Historically, when the Bitcoin price saw a short-term upsurge without an increase in volume, it often became vulnerable to a near-term correction.

For instance, when the Bitcoin price was hovering at $9,000, its price slowly increased to around $9,220 with declining volume. In the days that followed, the Bitcoin price dropped to as low as $7,700.

The second technical sign that indicates weak momentum in the current price trend of Bitcoin has shown a third rejection of the same resistance level at $5,500 at lower time frames in the past three days.

Although the Bitcoin price briefly surged to $5,900 on March 16, it immediately fell back into the $5,100 to $5,500 range, which then led BTC to fall to the mid-$4,500 region.

For the Bitcoin price to confirm another move down to the $4,000s, it would need to show a clear rejection of the $5,100 to $5,500 range in the near-term.

U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchins proposal of a $1 trillion stimulus package and the Feds aggressive approach in injecting liquidity in the stock market could be a variable that alleviates selling pressure on both Bitcoin and the cryptocurrency market in general.

Several renowned cryptocurrency traders have suggested in recent weeks that the Bitcoin price may not record a bottom until the coronavirus pandemic subsides and the number of cases begins to drop.

The severity of the coronavirus outbreak has been the main factor of the panic-led sell-off in the global financial market, which ultimately led to a frantic sell-off of crypto assets.

One trader said that the momentum of Bitcoin is currently weak, and the coronavirus outbreak would need to pass its peak for the dominant cryptocurrency to find a bottom.

The trader said:

Bitcoin is weak and coronavirus fear hasnt finished. Only when the virus fear finishes or reaches maximum climax is when I believe bitcoin has found a bottom. Until then I expect 3k or lower in the coming weeks. Sooner rather than later.

Analysts including Ed Keon, chief investment strategist at QMA, have said that the stock market bottom will purely depend on factors that are out of the markets control. Keon emphasized that it would be foolish to conclusively state that the market reached a bottom until confirmation can be drawn. Keon said:

Its hard to put a number on. Only a fool would try to say this is the bottom, but does that mean its another 5% or lower? Its hard to say. Its going to depend on factors we dont know yet. Our base case right now is a shallow recession in the U.S.

There is an argument to be made that Bitcoin will not bottom unless equities bottom out in the future, based on the correlation between the two asset classes in recent weeks.

Bitcoin, currently ranked #1 by market cap, is up 5.41% over the past 24 hours. BTC has a market cap of $96.44B with a 24 hour volume of $38.57B.

Chart by CryptoCompare

Bitcoin is up 5.41% over the past 24 hours.

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Bitcoin is up 24% in 2 days, but its showing two key signs of a local top - CryptoSlate

Harnessing the latest machine learning and artificial intelligence technologies to create and improve education and assessment solutions for lifelong…

Posted on March 17, 2020 by admin

#MachineLearning and #AI ArtificialIntelligence for #LifelongLearning -RM Results launches RM Studio to accelerate #EdTech innovation as part of a wider drive to transform the education landscape

RM Results, the digital assessment solutions business that works with leading exam boards and educational institutions across the globe, has launched its own in-house innovation lab. RM Studio is driving the continuous development of new and existing products and services, harnessing the latest technologies including machine learning and artificial intelligence to create and improve education and assessment solutions for lifelong learning.

The overarching aim of RM Studio is to design and develop solutions that make education and assessment a more positive experience for all those involved, from learners to assessors, awarding organisations to educational institutions.

RM Studio uses tried-and-tested start-up methods to accelerate projects. When a need or opportunity to add value has been identified, either within RM Results or through their discussions with students, educators, and awarding bodies, solutions are proposed until the most viable is settled on. After this, various innovation tools and methods are utilised, and the team are coached on how to best manage and progress their innovations. A minimum viable product is designed, and feedback is used to develop it further.

The new initiative is spearheaded by Roberto Hortal, who has been building the RM Studio innovation team leading a design-thinking approach across the business, since his appointment to the newly-created Head of Innovation role in January 2019. RM Studio works closely with customers including Cambridge Assessment, the International Baccalaureate and SQA to understand and anticipate the needs of the assessment sector now and in the future.

Prior to joining RM in 2019, Roberto gained over two decades of experience in implementing innovation programmes, having previously been responsible for significant first ever digital milestones at Nokia, easyJet, MORE TH>N, EDF Energy and Co-Op Group. This increased investment from RM Results in innovation marks the companys commitment to a more direct, mature approach to innovation, and is part of its continuing efforts to drive the global modernisation of assessment.

A key aspect of RM Studio is creating a culture of innovation to further the individual empowerment of employees, offering them opportunities to pursue their own ideas and, potentially, see them developed and added to the RM product suite.

Roberto Hortal, Head of Innovation at RM Results, says:

The landscape of education looks nothing like it did twenty years ago. Education and technology are now inextricably linked, and increasingly we are seeing people engaging with education throughout their lives, rather than just their school and university years. As the world of education diversifies, we want to be providing cutting edge solutions for markets as they emerge and grow. We firmly believe that, by focusing our innovative efforts through a structured, supportive pipeline, RM Studio is precisely what will allow us to achieve this.

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He adds:

Education and technology are intersecting in all sorts of ways, from wearable devices, to remote teaching, to artificial intelligence. New opportunities are constantly presenting themselves, and educators are always on the lookout for solutions that offer flexibility and make their jobs and lives easier. We want to enable the best lifelong learning opportunities for everyone.

Richard Little, Product Development Director at RM Results, commented:

The addition of a Head of Innovation to our team, and subsequent launch of RM Studio, has allowed us to push forward with a new wave of initiatives, and is perfectly timed as we prepare to launch new products. At RM Results, everyone is encouraged to innovate, it is a celebrated part of our culture. Robertos expertise and experience in successfully bringing innovation to various industries means he is the perfect figurehead to lead our ambitious plans.

While RM Studio operates in-house, RM Results is keen to explore opportunities for partnerships and open innovation, and in doing so bring the collaborative approach of RM Studio to their relationships with others.

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Harnessing the latest machine learning and artificial intelligence technologies to create and improve education and assessment solutions for lifelong...

Conference Artificial intelligence Intelligent politics: Challenges and opportunities for media and democracy postponed to October 2020 – Council of…

Posted on March 17, 2020 by admin

In view of the outbreak of the Coronavirus (COVID-19) the co-organisers, the Council of Europe and the Government of the Republic of Cyprus, have carefully assessed the situation and after due consideration regarding the health and safety of the participants, have jointly agreed to postpone the Conference of Ministers responsible for Media and Information Society on the theme: Artificial intelligence Intelligent politics: Challenges and opportunities for media and democracy, originally scheduled to take place on 28 and 29 May 2020 in Nicosia, Cyprus, to 22 and 23 October 2020.

We thank all speakers and participants for their understanding and invite them to mark the new dates on their calendars.

Please note that any room booking at the Landmark Nicosia Hotel made with a special rate for Conference participants needs to be cancelled, failing which standard rate will apply.

Further updates will be made available on the Conference website: http://www.coe.int/media2020nicosia

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Conference Artificial intelligence Intelligent politics: Challenges and opportunities for media and democracy postponed to October 2020 - Council of...

How To Make Money When The Cryptocurrency Market Is Tanking – Forbes

Posted on March 17, 2020 by admin

KRAKOW, POLAND - 2018/12/25: Bitcoin stock market value is seen on a mobile phone. (Photo by Omar ... [+] Marques/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)

The crypto market experienced one of its worst days in history with a nearly 50% one-day drop in the price of bitcoin. Economic uncertainties from the coronavirus pandemic and liquidity crunches have caused massive selloffs of bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies. Alt coins and DeFi platforms are experiencing similar issues as well. Not all hope is lost however. A downturn like this presents unique tax saving opportunities, especially in the cryptocurrency space. A brief lesson in the tax code could help you save thousands or more when you file your 2020 taxes.

It is extremely important to know that, claiming losses for tax purposes is different than having a loss in your portfolio. In most cases, the tax code only allows you to deduct realized losses.

It is likely that most of your cryptocurrency positions are in the red. For tax purposes, you can not deduct mere decrease in market value of your positions because they are unrealized. When you sell your position, these losses become realized and you can deduct the losses on your taxes.

For example, lets say David bought 1 bitcoin (BTC) at $10,000 on January 15, 2020. On March 11, 2020, the price of BTC drops to $3,000. In financial terms, he has lost $7,000 worth of value. However, from tax point of view, even though he has lost $7,000 worth of value, he has not realized this loss because he has not sold the position yet. If he were to keep this position without selling, he would NOT be able to deduct any losses for tax purposes despite having a financial loss.

Converting unrealized losses into realized losses allows David to get a deduction when he files his 2020 taxes. In order to realize his losses, he simply has to sell his positions that are at a loss. He also has an option to buy back into the same positions at a much lower price (without compromising the ability deduct losses) because wash sale rules are not applicable to cryptocurrencies under current guidance. Some crypto tax software helps you harvest tax losses.

Realizing some of your losses is super important to offset unexpected capital gains arising from margin liquidations. If you are a margin trader, it is likely that your initial margin has been liquidated due to large swings in prices. If you are trading on high leverage, even slight market fluctuations can trigger liquidations, and may result in capital gains taxes.

For example, assume Jennet deposited 1 BTC into her margin account on February 10, 2020, when the price of BTC was $9,000. She originally obtained this BTC in 2010 at a price of $1,000. She sets the leverage to be 5X so her notional buying power is 5 BTC (1 BTC x 5) or $45,000 ($9,000 x 5). Lets say Jennet goes long on ether with her full notional value of $45,000. At 5X leverage, if the $45,000 position goes down by 20% (notional value down to $36,000) her initial 1 BTC deposit will be liquidated by the exchange.

Assuming the BTC price is $9,000 at the time of the liquidation, she would end up having to pay taxes on $8,000 ($9,000 - $1,000) of capital gains. This is a tricky situation where Jennet actually owes capital gains taxes despite losing her investment.

Under the tax code, you can claim a maximum of $3,000 of capital losses on your tax return. However, the good news is that losses in excess of $3,000 can be carried forward indefinitely to future years. These losses can be used to offset future gains arising from crypto and stock transactions. To get advantage of this provision you need to realize your losses as explained above.

Knowing these simple tricks and executing them before the end of the year can help you get significant tax relief when you file for taxes. For the most part, the tax code only cares about your realized losses, not your real world loss in economic value. Use this to your advantage to reduce your taxes.

Disclaimer: this post is informational only and is not intended as tax advice. For tax advice, please consult a tax professional.

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How To Make Money When The Cryptocurrency Market Is Tanking - Forbes

Defining Cryptocurrency Is the Best Way to Kill It – CoinDesk – Coindesk

Posted on March 17, 2020 by admin

William Mougayar, a CoinDesk columnist, is the author of The Business Blockchain, producer of the Token Summit and a venture investor and adviser.

We should stop trying to define or classify cryptocurrency as if it were a beast from another planet. Rather, we just need to accept it as the future of money. It is a currency, not a security, and it shouldn't be governed by securities laws. The dollar, euro, yuan, pound are not regulated by securities authorities.

There is little value in attempting to define, box-in, segment or categorize cryptocurrency as something that needs to be continuously examined, questioned and analyzed. Instead, lets focus on promoting cryptocurrencys adoption because it is here to flourish and stay.

At a recent DLD 2020 panel, entitled "Virtual Currencies & the Global Financial System," the first question from the moderator consisted of defining cryptocurrencies. Each of the three panelists (painfully) took a shot at suggesting their own definitions. Another panel from Davos 2020, "From Token Assets to a Token Economy," discussed tokens as a type of cryptocurrency. In both panels, the definitions tried to depict tokens and cryptocurrency as a new type of animal.

Is there a point trying to classify the various types of cryptocurrencies, really?

Cryptocurrency is just like any currency, except with more powerful properties. It is that degree of power that is scaring incumbents while exciting new participants.

Over the long term and in the end-state, cryptocurrency is going to be as pervasively used as todays currency, but with a rivaling variety. Today we see cryptocurrency as the future of money, but tomorrow it will be an integral part of money.

Email was new until it wasnt.E-commerce was a novelty until it no longer was. Filing taxes electronically or renewing licenses online was a rarity until it became routine and sometimes the only option. Online banking was innovative until it became routine. Meeting friends online was extraordinary until it became very common. Reading online news was a parallel activity to printed newspapers until it became the norm for billions of people.

Today, cryptocurrency is an anomaly whose usage and understanding are in the hands of the few. Soon enough, it will permeate our society, habits, business, government, and become second nature.

The rabbit hole of classifications

If you go down the rabbit hole of classifications, you quickly realize the resulting madness and confusion from the nomenclature jargon: stablecoins, staked currency, utility tokens, security tokens, native coins, digital rights tokens, non-fungible tokens, etc.

There are stablecoins and market-driven coins. Stablecoins, like the name implies are coins with less volatility (supported by algorithmic or asset-backing stability), whereas non-stablecoins are subject to market supply/demand price fluctuations.

Cryptocurrency can be government or non-government backed. Government-backed cryptocurrency is still a rarity, and the subject of more discussion than action. As an aside, it will end up as a centrally controlled digital currency rather than being decentralized, programmable and native to a given blockchain.

Sadly, we have invented many of these classifications to please regulators.

We also have tokens that are in essence cryptocurrencies with a purpose. Then we enter the legal sphere, where tokens get labeled a utility, or security, based on how they were initially created, who received them and their ultimate functionality. For most tokens, there is a blurred line in demarcating the distinction between exclusive utility and their security-like properties of tokens.

Somewhere between a utility and security, we also have non-fungible tokens (NFTs) that are representations of unique ownership of a digital asset that has no physical equivalent (such as a CryptoKitty or a games related artifact like a special tank or sword.)

Sadly, we have invented many of these classifications to please regulators. With tokens, regulators and governments get agitated because companies can now issue tokens as currency, whereas issuing money used to be the sole right of sovereign governments. But companies have been issuing stock for decades. A stock is another form of value that cryptographic tokens mimic when they function as a security.

Then, we enter discussions about the functionality of these tokens: can they be earned? Sold? Bought? Spent? Awarded? Are they a payment unit? Or a right to a privileged action (like voting or getting access to information). Will their value increase if you dont use them and just store them? Are they native to a blockchain network, or grafted on top of an existing platform or singular application?

The above classifications are what we currently see, and there may be new representations we havent seen yet. While some of these functions are distinct from one another, many of them overlap with each other. That is why classifying cryptocurrency is not that useful, because we are still in the formation stages.

Reality check. Stop defining.

Time for a reality check. Do we still attempt to define the internet? Not anymore. But in its early days, we diduntil we didnt anymore.

Do we define money by its use cases, like something you buy groceries or pay a toll with? Or do we, rather, define money by its properties?

Moneys key properties consist of being a unit and a store of value that is transferable, fungible, verifiable, divisible and scarce.

Cryptocurrency inherits all these properties, in addition to adding unique functions that money doesnt have: its immutability is digital (the physical is gone), it can be fungible or non-fungible, its policy governance doesnt need to be centralized, it has very powerful programmable capabilities with imbedded logic (if-this-then-that), and its transferability is peer-to-peer (without central intermediaries). In essence, cryptocurrency is money on steroids.

Let us start using cryptocurrency according to its most common features first, the ones that it shares with the money we know. Then we can evolve from there. Just like early websites were glorified brochures on a screen, then we evolved way beyond that monochromatic use case into e-commerce, e-business, two-way communications, social interactions and much more.

Using cryptocurrency hasnt been easy for the average person, and thats a valid challenge. But it is getting better.

It is time to give cryptocurrency the place it deserves. If it is to claim a position as the new money, then we need to increase its usage, starting with the easier use cases and gradually increasing the variety and complexity.

We need to bring cryptocurrencies to the fore and make them as popular as regular currency and web are.

Let us stop defining and segmenting cryptocurrency in ways that limit it. Rather, lets start using it in ways that open up the possibilities and allow it to cement itself in our lives and businesses so it is accepted, welcomed and not feared.

Cryptocurrency is the new money and the new currency. It is time it enters the bloodstream of the mainstream.

The leader in blockchain news, CoinDesk is a media outlet that strives for the highest journalistic standards and abides by a strict set of editorial policies. CoinDesk is an independent operating subsidiary of Digital Currency Group, which invests in cryptocurrencies and blockchain startups.

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50 Companies Back New Cryptocurrency Project Competing With Facebook’s Libra – Bitcoin News

Posted on March 17, 2020 by admin

Some members of the Libra Association are now backing a rival project called Celo, which has its own blockchain and cryptocurrency. Over 50 major companies have pledged their support, each pursuing a diverse set of use cases. The project claims that the combined reach of all members exceeds 400 million people.

Also read: Bitcoin Legal in India Exchanges Resume INR Banking Service After Supreme Court Verdict Allows Cryptocurrency

The Celo Foundation announced on Wednesday 50 founding members of the Celo Alliance for Prosperity. Celo is an open platform that makes financial tools accessible to anyone with a mobile phone, its website describes. The project offers a way for developers to build mobile apps based on Celos Ethereum-based blockchain with a stablecoin.

The effort is designed to deliver humanitarian aid, facilitate payments and enable microlending through a cryptocurrency called the Celo Dollar, which is scheduled to launch in April, Bloomberg reported. Chuck Kimble, who heads the Alliance for Prosperity, said in a phone interview with the publication:

The value of the Celo Dollar will be pegged to the U.S. dollar and backed by a reserve of other cryptocurrencies It will be available in the U.S., but the alliances focus is on Latin America, Africa, and Southeast Asia.

Citing that Today less than .5% of global citizens benefit from the speed, transparency, utility, and low cost of using blockchain technology, the foundation detailed, The Alliance members have a plan to change that and are committed to leveraging the power of Celos innovative blockchain technology to create solutions that work across devices, carriers, and countries.

Alliance members are pursuing a diverse set of use cases, including powering mobile and online work, enabling faster and affordable remittances, reducing the operational complexities of delivering humanitarian aid, facilitating payments, and enabling microlending, the foundations announcement explains. Their combined reach is over 400 million people.

The project is dubbed by some as a rival to Facebooks Libra project, which has been scrutinized by regulators worldwide since it was first announced. The Libra project is currently considering redesigning as several key members have left the project, including Paypal, Visa, Mastercard, Stripe, Mercado Pago, Ebay, and Vodafone.

Kimble claims that There are some similarities [with Libra] in terms of mission, which is why there are some people who have joined both alliances. Some Celo Alliance for Prosperity members that are also Libra supporters include Anchorage, Bison Trails Co., Coinbase Ventures, Andreessen Horowitz and Mercy Corps. However, the Celo project does not have the massive userbase that Facebook has.

Payments in the Celo Dollar stablecoin can be sent to peoples phone numbers rather than complicated addresses, Tech Crunch noted, asserting that The goal is to make delivering utility via blockchain easier by building a flexible network of applications that doesnt scare regulators like Libra has.

Kimble claims, We have met with governments around the globe as well as central banks, we are continually engaging with governments in the many countries which we hope to serve. Diogo Monica, president of Anchorage, which is a part of both the Libra project and the Celo Alliance for Prosperity, said in a statement:

Celo and Libra each have unique focuses and approaches, but they share a goal that Anchorage strongly believes in: banking the unbanked.

What do you think of the Celo project? Do you think regulators worldwide will have a problem with it like they do Facebooks cryptocurrency? Let us know in the comments section below.

Images courtesy of Shutterstock and the Celo Foundation.

See the original post:
50 Companies Back New Cryptocurrency Project Competing With Facebook's Libra - Bitcoin News

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