Crypto Fact

   The global crypto community is suddenly full of nice things to say about Xi Jinping, the Chinese president who almost epitomizes the notion of   centralized power . Last Thursday (Oct. 24), Xi delivered  a speech  about the importance of blockchain and the need to accelerate the development of the technology in China in a wide range of sectors, during a “study session” for some of the Chinese Communist Party’s most senior members. Xi added that as governments worldwide have stepped up their efforts in developing blockchain, China should follow suit and allow the country to have greater say in forming global standards for the technology, according to  a transcript  (link in Chinese) published by state news outlet Xinhua. Xi’s proclamations came despite his government’s  ban on crypto currencies   that has been effect since 2017, out of fears that the speculation of the digital currencies would cause chaos in its financial markets....

Since September 30, 2019, two major blockchain networks received major announcements from U.S. regulators. On September 30, 2019, a company called Block.one paid a $24 million fine to the SEC for an unregistered securities offering. In return, the EOS cryptocurrency, a native token of the EOSIO blockchain network, can be used publicly without risk of any securities law violations. The Initial Coin Offering for EOSIO raised a reported $4 billion. Soon thereafter, on October 10, 2019, the CFTC declared Ethereum was a commodity, solidifying certainty that it was not a security.       What is more interesting is that EOS opened an office in Arlington, Virginia, right next to Washington D.C., with numerous politicians including the Virginia Governor at the opening of the office and with Block.one indicating the potential of up to 200 blockchain jobs. As I reported earlier this week, Ripple just opened up a major political and regulatory affairs office in D.C....

  Bitcoin prices shot up 12 percent Friday, climbing off a five-month low touched earlier this week, after Chinese President Xi Jinping said his countrymen should “ seize the opportunity ” afforded by blockchain technology. Although China’s central bank ordered mainland-based coin exchanges to close in 2017, Xi’s comments in support of enterprise blockchain, which share the distributed-ledger technology underpinning bitcoin, is good for sentiment around the crypto industry, said Mati Greenspan, senior market analyst at exchange eToro. And that in turn could be boosting sentiment toward bitcoin, the original blockchain-based digital asset invented a decade ago, Greenspan said. “It’s bullish for the entire crypto industry, in general, when you have the leader of one of the world’s largest economies coming to embrace blockchain technology like this,” Greenspan said in a phone interview from Tel Aviv. “Bitcoin, as we know, is a central player in the blockchain indu...

Bitcoin and cryptocurrency exchanges mostly make money from the fees they charge to users making trades ( though that's beginning to change ). When trade volumes are low, bitcoin exchanges get into trouble–and right now they're pretty low. Combined with the recent slump in the bitcoin price , which  has dragged on the wider market , the nascent cryptocurrency industry could be headed for a perfect storm.  Bitcoin trading volume among the top ten biggest bitcoin and crypto exchanges has fallen to under $200 million a day, according to bitcoin and crypto data company Messari, down 20-fold from a peak of $4 billion per day just a few months ago. "Across all crypto venues, volumes are dismal," eToro's senior market analyst Mati Greenspan wrote in  a Twitter thread , sparking industry concern.

    Bitcoin has plunged more than 30% since hitting a year-to-date high. That fact is clear, but explaining why the world’s largest digital currency has lost momentum in the second half of the year is anything but. Some, like JPMorgan Chase & Co. have pointed to Intercontinental Exchange Inc.’s  new futures contracts  and an unwinding of long positions as likely culprits for the nosedive. Others have pointed to a buildup of technical bearish signals  as setting off its summer swoon. Indexica , an alternative data provider, has a different take. According to their predictive index built on data from Aug. 1 through Oct. 1, Bitcoin’s fall has less to do with the currency itself and more to do with a growing cryptocurrency ecosystem.    According to their latest findings, Bitcoin’s price moves are being driven by competing digital currencies and new blockchain technologies. Indexica’s study showed talk around Mastercard’s partnership...