Meet Bitcoin’s New Rock Star; CFTC’s J. Christopher Giancarlo
A strange thing happened on the way to the decentralized digital currency revolution: a cop – a regulator – seems to have salvaged bitcoin’s giant crash. Less than 24 hours after a 65 percent drop in bitcoin’s price, hysteria from all corners, no less than one man, the Commodities Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) chair, J. Christopher Giancarlo, brought the couch-fainting, pearl-clutching community hope.
Also read: Landmark Senate Crypto Hearing Seen as Mostly Positive by Bitcoiners
Bitcoin Hero, J. Christopher Giancarlo
No one in the ecosystem was excited that two of bitcoin’s main regulators, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and CFTC chairs were headed up to the United States Senate for a hearing in front of the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs. At issue was the future of regulation, and as luck would have it crypto had taken a giant dump and the US stock market dropped as well a day before. Politicians love to throw themselves between a crisis, and it being an election year, a perfect storm for headlines such as “crackdown” seemed to be brewing.
And then it didn’t happen.
Remarks published the night before spoke to a rather reasoned position, if government regulation is assumed, on the part of both agencies. But that didn’t mean both men wouldn’t fold once questions came from the senate. There was still plenty to be nervous about.
And then it didn’t happen, again.
When the opening statement from CFTC chair J. Christopher Giancarlo met the microphone, something incredible happened: the seasoned regulator seemed human. He spoke of a deep empathy sweeping his personal experience, one in which his children and extended family were involved with bitcoin. It was, he said, time to value their enthusiasm, to not confuse them with popular conceptions of fraud or crime. He’d later even enter the neologism “Hodl” into the formal congressional record.
Where the hell did this guy come from?
The dapper 58-year-old Obama appointee in fashion-forward frames assumed his slot back in 2014, long before bitcoin futures were so much as a glimmer in anyone’s eyes. He was born and raised in New Jersey, and eventually earned his juris doctorate before gaining executive spots in the private sector, much of it software related and tech oriented.
He’s married, has three kids, and plays banjo well enough to have it recorded and be part of a band. His remarks on 6 February, embedded for you here, are worth hearing in context. It is clear he understands the import of bitcoin, its importance, even if he’s quite unsure about its future and his agency’s ultimate role in shaping the asset going forward.
And maybe too much as been made of his positive statements and the correlation to bitcoin prices rebounding near minutes after he uttered them. Maybe. But the man owns a 1973 Buick convertible. Your argument is invalid.
What do you think of the CFTC chair? Let us know in the comments section below.
Images courtesy of Pixabay, US Senate, Twitter.
Need to calculate your bitcoin holdings? Check our tools section
The post Meet Bitcoin’s New Rock Star; CFTC’s J. Christopher Giancarlo appeared first on Bitcoin News.
Bitcoin’s Volatility Is a Feature, Not a Bug
Another suicide has made its way to media scrutiny, and crypto markets plummeting was promptly highlighted as the ultimate cause. It’s time to consider our mental health as investors in light of bitcoin’s infamous feature – volatility.
Also read: Landmark Senate Crypto Hearing Seen as Mostly Positive by Bitcoiners
Bitcoin’s ”Death” Is Not the End of the World
Dear Reader, perhaps you’re considering a jump into the bitcoin investing pool. The waters, while choppy, seem warm and inviting. They are in a lot of ways. Prior to laying down any significant sums, it’s right and good to help you orient yourself for what’s ahead. First, you’re valued. That’s right. For decentralized currencies to work, we have to have a strange kind of faith in your being rational an actor enough to expand the network, either as an investor, hodler, or through development and mining aspects. You don’t have to be a good person necessarily, but you do have to possess at least slivers of our ethos, finding value in a trustless, borderless, payment system and currency. And that you do makes you valuable.
Contrary to portrayals in the media or government schooling textbooks, freer markets, quasi-anarchic systems such as bitcoin and crypto aren’t looking to gain at your demise. Just the opposite is true, in fact: everyone needs you to thrive, to do well. The more people having a great experience with cryptocurrencies, finding meaning within it in their own ways, the more innovation, growth, and eventual adoption. People feeling used, stupid, sorted as if this were some great Darwinian struggle for financial existence runs counter to literally everything bitcoin is about. That’s Old World thinking. That’s the Ponzi of fiat’s newer money getting into favored hands first, circulating down to the rubes later through inflation or redistribution schemes. That’s not bitcoin. That’s not us. We want you to see bitcoin/crypto as a long term project, and nothing like a get rich quick idea. You need to be very much alive to help us all get there.
The world’s most popular decentralized currency has a large, blunt pimp hand: price volatility. It’s brutal. It slaps down those who swagger into its orbit, hoping to strike it rich. The irony is that its crazy bounces, stair climbs, parabolas are what attracted hordes in the later part of 2017. As we’ve seen, it has since been their undoing. Stories in the popular press around the globe are beginning to emerge about the aftermath, from a Washington Post feature on Kentucky’s heartbreaking community of glossy-eyed, fevered bitcoiners to South Korean news about yet another suicide in relation to crypto losses.
Bitcoin has had a price nearly since its inception, not long after. Tenths of a penny notwithstanding, its balloon in this area has been well documented. Complexity surrounds its value, and while authors such as myself feel the tech is in some ways undervalued, really no one expected the damn thing to be units of magnitude like it is now. Sure, you’ll read a variety of claims, but most of that is marketing hype for media attention. Bitcoin has the hash power. It has the miners. It has user adoption numbers dwarfing all others. It has the brand. Might it continue to be the standout among its asset class is anyone’s guess. No one can say with certainty.
Bitcoin Can Die
Bitcoin can die. It can be taken to near zero a variety of ways. The same is true for all cryptocurrencies, no matter levels of decentralization or other salient factors. If you’re considering investing in bitcoin, or if someone you know is, it’s a great time to take some giant steps back. Chances are you’ve never invested before formally in any financial realm, and cryptocurrencies are an easy way to get onboarded and make you appear to be a genius.
To be emotionally ready for crypto, however, consider the following. Pay down any consumer debt. That interest stacking up automatically eats at whatever perceived gains you’re calculating, almost defeating the purpose. A double whammy of losing at the crypto market and still having a credit card payment adds stress, to say the least. Gather up something like a budget. For three months stick to it, shaving off about twenty percent of your income as savings. By that first quarter, you should have a nice little nut relative to your earnings. During that time, check-in on the bitcoin price weekly. Read a few stories at News.Bitcoin.com every couple of days to get a sense of where the market is heading, possible trends forming. Read up on the technology: is it improving? Is its market share still there? And so on. The combination of financial discipline and crypto literacy will lessen shock and toughen you as a long term investor.
After doing your homework, allocate as much as up to half of your savings, not more, into crypto. Buying a basket of currencies is a nice, conservative way to wet your beak. Give yourself a year to see where the money goes, and during that time continue budgeting and replacing your invested savings, taking profits from crypto gains, assuming there are some, and either place those in fiat or reallocate your basket as information on the ground changes.
And do not assume participating in bitcoin and crypto means always having to spend your own money. Participation comes in a variety of ways: people earn digital dough by selling goods and services online; they also begin to take developer courses, teaching themselves the ins and outs of coding; if you’re handy with words, start a blog to educate others. Again, there are a myriad of ways to be part of bitcoin’s pioneering spirit without trying to be a hotshot investor.
Talk About It
It’s alright to have made financial mistakes. They sting a bit more because of the emphasis we place on money. And money is important. It’s a score keeper of our decision-making ability, all things being equal. It tells us a lot about ourselves. But it doesn’t tell us everything. Stories abound about later successes beginning as failures, and often over and over again. That might be your story too. Realize the best of us is guessing, that literally no one understands exactly where crypto is going, and don’t be so hard on yourself if you do lose.
Feelings of despair are natural during downturns. Just realize you’re not the only one, and that this isn’t the first time something like what’s happening has happened. Gallows humor goes a long way, making fun of yourself and that stupid initial coin offering from a Nigerian prince you sunk too much money into. Chalk it up to experience. And that gets easier to do if you approach crypto investing correctly in the first place. You won’t be completely busted. You’ll instead be wiser for the venture, and hopefully better prepared when the next proposition arises.
Religious counselors, mentors, a good psychologist, friends, and family can all be great sounding boards. Chances are they too have anecdotes about investments going sour. Hear them. Tell them. Don’t isolate yourself. Don’t believe for a second you’re not valued. You are. I need you as a reader, Dear Reader. The broader community needs your story, as maybe your goofs can help someone avoid such a mistake. But abandoning all hope is so 20th century, so analog, so government issued paper money. You’re here with us now, 21st century pioneers at the hinge of financial history, and we need your bravery to succeed.
How do you deal with price downturns? Let us know in the comment section below!
Images via Shutterstock, Pixabay.
Disclaimer: Bitcoin price articles and markets updates are intended for informational purposes only and should not to be considered as trading advice. Neither Bitcoin.com nor the author is responsible for any losses or gains, as the ultimate decision to conduct a trade is made by the reader. Always remember that only those in possession of the private keys are in control of the “money.”
The post Bitcoin’s Volatility Is a Feature, Not a Bug appeared first on Bitcoin News.
Myetherwallet Relaunches as Mycrypto Following a Hostile Twitter Takeover
Myetherwallet, the web’s most popular client-side ethereum interface, has announced a surprise rebrand. The service will henceforth be known as Mycrypto following an acrimonious split. The sudden move took one half of the Myetherwallet team by surprise, who claims the “Twitter handle was changed without knowledge or permission of MEW’s founder”. It has also emerged that a lawsuit was filed in December, with one party alleging that the other failed to allow them to inspect the company’s books. It now looks like there will be two competing brands moving forward, Myetherwallet and Mycrypto.
Also read: Bitcoin Couture Makes Its Debut at New York Fashion Week
Myetherwallet Hard Forks
On Thursday evening, the Myetherwallet Twitter account announced to its 77,000 followers that it had rebranded as Mycrypto and had a new Twitter handle to match. There was just one problem: founder Taylor Monahan doesn’t seem to have told her co-founder Kosala. The revelation sparked a Twitter spat and overshadowed what had initially looked like a slick rebrand. The first ethereum wallet with a proper interface, MEW, as it’s affectionately known, has been around since 2015.
Its users witnessed the DAO hack and subsequent hard fork of the ethereum blockchain to create two versions of the coin: ETH and ETC. Now, MEW has undergone its own hard fork that’s set to be every bit as contentious as the one that came in the wake of the DAO. In a blog post, Taylor explained the reasons behind the rebrand – but conveniently forgot to mention that she had done so without the consensus of her founding partner, and had nabbed the Twitter account into the bargain. In December, Kosala filed a lawsuit in California after Taylor allegedly refused to let him inspect MEW’s books.
Headed “A New Beginning”, the post begins: “This is the story of Myetherwallet, and how this has led us down the path to Mycrypto. It is long because I hope it gives you insight into who we were, who we are, and who we aim to be in 2018 and beyond.” The article then delves into MEW’s humble beginnings in 2015 when it was created by Taylor and Kosala. She explains: “It was a simple interface that provided a simple solution to a problem: when Ethereum first launched, the only way to send your Ether was via command line.”
The ICO Years
Myetherwallet started out as little more than a hobby, but by 2017, amidst peak ICO mania, had become the hub around which the entire ethereum community revolved. Taylor recalls:
When the price skyrocketed, ICOs and noobs came zooming in on the promise of getting rich. We suddenly had a real user base and real servers that we had to learn to scale. The phishing sites appeared and the work and expertise to be secure in this space climbed steadily. Our daily messages doubled, and then doubled again… and again… and again.
She confesses that the toll of answering support tickets until long into the night took its toll. “My husband..cooked dinner each evening, and carried me to bed at 4am… then 5am… then 7am when I fell asleep typing at the computer. I consistently chose “trying to help one more person” over “a few more moments of sleep”. And there was “always one more person.”
Mighty Wallets From Tiny Acorns Grow
Moving to the present day, Taylor explains: “This adventure needed to transform from ‘fun side project’ to ‘a real company’ …and fast.” As of today, ethereum users can get their ethereum fix from Mycrypto.com which operates just like Myetherwallet.com. “Myetherwallet will continue to be online until it, for whatever reason, is not online,” writes Taylor, hinting at the fact that the rebrand may not have been a unanimous decision.
It is evident that a rift had developed between MEW’s founders, who had once been so tight, for Taylor writes: “I was terrified — am terrified — at the potential harm this change will have on myself, the team, and/or the Ethereum community but ultimately, the risks created by continuing down the road we were on are greater than the risks of splitting to a new brand, new company, new name, and new domain.”
Within minutes of tweeting news of the rebrand, Kosala hit back via a new MEW Twitter account, writing: “Myetherwallet is safe and functioning normally. You may continue to use Myetherwallet as you normally would, your wallets have not been compromised. At present, we are dealing with what we believe to be an unlawful, social media account switch. We are addressing the situation presently and @kvhnuke_ will provide updates as they come available”. He has since provided a full statement confirming the split.
The Ethereum community are accustomed to dealing with splits, but the forking of Myetherwallet seems to have caught everyone unawares.
Which wallet will you be using to send ethereum – MEW or Mycrypto? Let us know in the comments section below.
Images courtesy of Shutterstock, and Mycrypto.com.
Need to calculate your bitcoin holdings? Check our tools section.
The post Myetherwallet Relaunches as Mycrypto Following a Hostile Twitter Takeover appeared first on Bitcoin News.
Russia’s Largest Bank Caught Employees Mining For Crypto
Russia’s largest bank, the state-controlled Sberbank, has reiterated that it is not mining cryptocurrencies. However, the bank says that it has often caught its employees crypto mining using the bank’s equipment.
Also read: Japan’s DMM Bitcoin Exchange Opens for Business With 7 Cryptocurrencies
Sberbank Claims It’s Not Mining Crypto
Since admitting to scooping up most of the graphics cards on the domestic market, Sberbank has maintained that it is not mining cryptocurrencies with them. Instead, Vedyakhin claimed these cards are for the bank’s “laboratory for the development of artificial intelligence,” Tass quoted him.
On Wednesday, Chairman of the bank’s Board, Herman Gref, reiterated at the “Leaders of Russia” forum that Sberbank is not mining cryptocurrencies on a corporate level. However, the publication quoted him proclaiming:
We bought [graphics] cards of a slightly different configuration. Sberbank is not engaged in mining, but we often catch employees who are engaged in mining on the bank’s equipment.
Gref elaborated that he believes the bank is not interested in mining because it is a “primitive business,” adding that “I can tell you a dozen other investment objects with higher yields,” RBC detailed.
Sberbank’s Engagement with Cryptocurrencies
In addition, the bank opened a blockchain laboratory last month for researching the latest technology in this area. “The laboratory will cooperate with start-ups, associations and various communities,” RBC conveyed, adding that the bank will introduce “educational programs in this area.”
Gref also recently stated that he “opposes the ban on cryptocurrency and calls for tolerance and patience in their regulation,” Tass described and quoted him saying:
Before trying to regulate, you do not need to rush, but you do need to maintain a normal background around the technologies of blockchain and cryptocurrency.
Do you think Sberbank is mining cryptocurrencies? Let us know in the comments section below.
Images courtesy of Shutterstock and Sberbank.
Need to calculate your bitcoin holdings? Check our tools section.
The post Russia’s Largest Bank Caught Employees Mining For Crypto appeared first on Bitcoin News.
U.S. Marshals Auction Completes the Sale of 3,800 BTC
The U.S. Marshals revealed this week it completed the auction that saw the sale of 3,813 bitcoins ($31Mn USD) on January 22. The bitcoins were seized from various civil forfeitures and criminal cases involving U.S. law enforcement agencies like Homeland Security and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI).
Also read: Weiss Ratings Defends its Decision to Give Bitcoin Only a C+ Grade
The U.S. Marshals Complete the Sale of $31 Million Worth of BTC
I believe we’ll be heading north of $50,000 market price within the next 12 to 18 months — Our strategy at Riot is to accumulate Bitcoin and to provide our investors as much direct exposure as we can, hence we decided to participate in the auction.
The Third Successful Government Auction Involving Seized Bitcoins
The BTC auction prices were based on the January 22 closing price of $10,354 USD per coin. At the time the entire sale was $42Mn, but now the whole lot of auctioned bitcoins is worth $11Mn less than the day of the sale. The U.S. Marshals detail there were a little over 62 different registered bidders looking to obtain the seized bitcoins. The rest of the BTC left after the 1,600 block purchase, were sold in blocks of 200, two sets of 500, and one containing 813. Riot seems to be the only bidder that was willing to disclose winning the 500 BTC bid publicly.
The auction this past January marks the third largest U.S. Marshals sale of seized bitcoins from various forfeitures and criminal cases. The first was the high profile Silk Road case which involved the sale of 50,000 BTC which sold for $365 per coin. The well-known venture capitalist Tim Draper publicly announced that he acquired most of those auctioned bitcoins. The last auction the Marshals held was back in the summer of 2016 which saw the sale of 2,700 BTC confiscated from twelve criminal investigations. According to reports, 100 BTC out of the lot of 3,813 BTC the Marshals auctioned this past January were not sold.
What do you think about the U.S. Marshals recent auction? Would you purchase bitcoins from a law enforcement auction? Let us know in the comments below.
Images via Pixabay, USMS, and Wiki Commons.
Why not keep track of the price with one of Bitcoin.com’s widget services.
The post U.S. Marshals Auction Completes the Sale of 3,800 BTC appeared first on Bitcoin News.
Coincheck Announces JPY Withdrawals Will Resume Next Week
This Friday the Japanese exchange Coincheck has announced the resumption of yen (JPY) withdrawals will begin next week. The news follows the trading platform halting operations on the 26th of January. That day Coincheck was hacked and lost a total of 523,000,000 XEM, but the exchange promised to pay back the 260,000 customer accounts that were compromised. JPY withdrawals will be enabled for the trading platforms users beginning February 13, 2018.
Also Read: Japanese Crypto Exchanges Strengthen Self-Regulation Following Coincheck Hack
Coincheck Plans to Resume JPY Withdrawals Next Week
“Currently, all customer JPY assets are being stored in a customer-specific account in a major financial institution,” explains the Japanese exchange.
We plan to resume normal operations for JPY withdrawals from the following date and will process customer requests in the order in which they come in.
The Resumption of JPY Withdrawals Is Unrelated to XEM Reparation Payments
Coincheck also notes that the withdrawals of JPY and the date mentioned is completely “unrelated to reparation payments for the XEM.” Just before the first of February Coincheck had announced that approximately 260,000 affected accounts ($423Mn USD) would be reimbursed. Balances will be repaid in JPY via the Coincheck Wallet the firm has stated and will be valued at approximately $0.81 USD per token. At the moment that price is much more than the current rate XEM tokens are being sold for as the spot price is $0.56 per coin.
Withdrawal requests will be initiated on a first come — first serve basis, and Coincheck says the company may contact certain customers separately in order to confirm withdrawal details. As far as cryptocurrencies operations are concerned the exchange plans to lift withdrawal restrictions as soon as the company feels they are “able to guarantee the secure resumption of operations for each feature.”
“If further complications preventing the safe resumption of withdrawals are discovered, the resumption date may be extended in order to guarantee customer asset security,” Coincheck concludes.
What do you think about Coincheck preparing to resume operations after the recent hack? Do you think the exchange will fulfill its promise to pay back the XEM at $0.81 per coin? Let us know your thoughts on this story in the comments below.
Images Shutterstock, Coincheck and the NEM/XEM logo.
At news.Bitcoin.com all comments containing links are automatically held up for moderation in the Disqus system. That means an editor has to take a look at the comment to approve it. This is due to the many, repetitive, spam and scam links people post under our articles. We do not censor any comment content based on politics or personal opinions. So, please be patient. Your comment will be published.
The post Coincheck Announces JPY Withdrawals Will Resume Next Week appeared first on Bitcoin News.
Source: https://news.bitcoin.com/