BTC rallied from $8,400 to $8,888 (as of the time of this article’s writing), tapping $9,200 on Saturday morning. Altcoins largely outperformed the market leader this week, with Ethereum gaining 9%, which was similar to the performances of Bitcoin Cash, Tezos, Link, Maker, and Algorand.
Aside from the market, the underlying cryptocurrency industry saw a tumultuous week, with there being a number of news stories showing the growth and adoption of these technologies, though others casting light on issues within this space.
Related Reading: Crypto Tidbits: Bitcoin Plunges Under $9,000, Bitfinex and OKEx DDOS Attacks, Warren Buffett Bashes Cryptocurrency Again
Bitcoin & Crypto Tidbits
India’s Supreme Court Turns Over De-Facto Bitcoin Ban: In a ruling Wednesday, India’s Supreme Court reversed restrictions placed on banks by the Reserve Bank of India. This move allows banks to facilitate banking transactions with industry entities once again, “removing a major hurdle for the development of the sector,” as put by Reuters. Indeed, Bloomberg’s analysis of the Supreme Court’s move explained that Wednesday’s ruling means “virtual currency investors and businesses [can] push against stricter rules being planned by a skeptical government,” adding that any future regulations determined for India’s Bitcoin industry are likely to be less stringent now that the RBI ban is no longer.
Bank of England’s Incoming Governor Trashses Bitcoin In Parliament Session: During a recent meeting of the Treasury Select Committee, Andrew Bailey — the former deputy governor of the Bank of England that is soon to be the governor of the central bank — openly lambasted cryptocurrencies. In the meeting, he said that Bitcoin remains a highly speculative and volatile investment that may result in investors losing “all [their] money”:
If you want to want to buy Bitcoin, be prepared to lose all your money. If you want to buy it, fine, but understand that what you’ve got has no intrinsic value. It might have extrinsic value, but no intrinsic value.
Mike Bloomberg, Who Wanted to Regulate Crypto More Fairly, Exits Presidential Race: On Tuesday, hundreds of thousands of registered Democrats flocked down to polling stations to cast their vote for who they think will be best suited to beat the Republican nominee late this year. After Vice-President Joe Biden and Senator Bernie Sanders swept the primaries, candidate Mike Bloomberg exited the race. This is relevant to Bitcoin because Bloomberg wanted to use his power as President of the U.S. to more fairly regulate cryptocurrency. A Financial Reform Policy from the ex-candidate read:
Cryptocurrencies have become an asset class worth hundreds of billions of dollars, yet regulatory oversight remains fragmented and undeveloped. For all the promise of the blockchain, Bitcoin and initial coin offerings, there’s also plenty of hype, fraud and criminal activity. Mike will work with regulators to provide clearer rules of the game.
Federal Reserve Cuts Interest Rate, Boosting Bitcoin Narrative: After Goldman Sachs wrote in a note that the Federal Reserve was likely going to cut its already-low policy interest rate by 50 basis points (0.5%), the American central bank did just that; on Tuesday morning, following an emergency meeting seemingly in response to the coronavirus fears, Chairman Jerome Powell announced an emergency cut of 50 basis points, just as the market predicted. The last two times emergency Federal Reserve interest rate cuts took place was during 2008’s Great Recession, then in the wake of 9/11. The solution to this monetary policy, Ikigai’s Travis Kling says, is “non-sovereign money,” evidently referencing Bitcoin — which contrary to fiat has a limited supply cap, a fixed monetary policy that cannot be controlled by a central group, and a decentralized nature not tied to a single state or corporation.
The sociopathy required to fix a series of popped bubbles by creating even bigger, and even more unsustainable bubbles will be the most lasting legacy of the Boomer generation.
A non-sovereign money will be the logical solution.
— Travis Kling (@Travis_Kling) March 3, 2020
Elon Musk Talks About Dogecoin… Kinda: Elon Musk on March 3rd published a tweet, professing his love for dogs in the form of a meme. He followed this up in another tweet with “they have the best coin,” referencing Dogecoin, the meme cryptocurrency that somehow has a market capitalization of hundreds of millions, and once even had a $1 billion+ valuation.
Ethereum Founder Throws Weight Behind Twitter’s CEO: According to a Bloomberg report citing “people familiar with the matter,” Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey may soon be replaced because of Elliot Management Corp, an activist hedge fund, taking a sizable stake in Twitter. Many have come out to defend Dorsey in these trying times, including those in the crypto space. Vitalik Buterin, the Russian-Canadian founder of Ethereum, recently wrote that he stands with Jack, adding that he believes the CEO has done “a vastly better job than what I expect/fear from a hedge fund appointed CEO swooping in to replace him.” Buterin was responding to a pro-Dorsey comment from Tesla’s Elon Musk, who has one of Twitter’s biggest followings.
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