Paul Chou, a former Goldman Sachs executive and the founder of LedgerX, a regulated bitcoin derivatives and futures market based in the US, said that Bitcoin has been seeing unprecedented institutional interest for the first time in its history. Institutional Money During an interview with Nathaniel Popper of the New York Times, Chou stated that despite the recent market correction that led the values of most major cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin and Ethereum to drop by large margins, the demand from institutional investors and retail traders has been on the rise. Chou said: The industry is seeing unprecedented institutional interest forPowered by WPeMatico
Iran, which was heavily affected by the sanctions imposed by the US on the country and its businesses in January, has banned the only alternative payment method that local businesses and individuals could use to bring money in and out of the nation. Why Did Iran Ban Cryptocurrency? On April 23, the central bank of Iran effectively banned local banks and financial institutions from dealing with cryptocurrency businesses. “Banks and credit institutions and currency exchanges should avoid any sale or purchase of these currencies or taking any action to promote them,” Iran’s state-run IRNA news agency reported. According to Radio Free Europe/Radio
ConsenSys, a blockchain software technology firm founded by Ethereum co-creator Joseph Lubin, and open-source development group OpenLaw Core have created a new method for processing real estate sales on Ethereum’s immutable blockchain network. Increase in Usage of Cryptocurrencies in Real Estate Industry Since early 2017, an increasing number of realtors and property holders in the global real estate industry have begun to utilize cryptocurrencies to purchase and sell properties, such as apartments, apartment complexes, office spaces, and buildings. In January of this year, a real estate company put a large-scale commercial building in Tokyo up for sale for 547 bitcoins, worth about $4.9
Kim Yong-jin, South Korea’s Deputy Minister of Strategy and Finance, stated at a financial conference held at InterContinental Seoul that the cryptocurrency market is growing exponentially and gaining stability. Minister Kim surprised local investors and cryptocurrency researchers by stating that alternative means of payment such as cryptocurrencies could threaten the foundation of the traditional fiat system. “Cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin and Ethereum, which led an investment and speculative bubble earlier this year, have stabilized and are leading both the authorities and investors to question the foundation of the fiat system,” said minister Kim. He added that “the central bank should consider the emergence
The Chicago Board Options Exchange (Cboe), the largest options exchange in the global market that currently operates a bitcoin futures market, has asked the US government to allow bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) that would provide investors within the public market with access to bitcoin. A public letter sent to the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) read: Cboe encourages the Commission to approach Cryptocurrency ETPs holistically and from the same perspective that it has historically approached commodity-related ETPs. The Commission should not stand in the way of such ETPs coming to market. Lack of Regulation and Liquidity Last
Japanese mainstream media outlet Nikkei reported earlier this week that criminal charges could be filed against Binance if it failed to halt its Japan operations. Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao swiftly responded to the report, stating that it was “irresponsible journalism.” On March 22, Nikkei reported that the Japanese Financial Services Agency (FSA) had warned Binance about its operations in Japan and asked the cryptocurrency exchange to stop providing its service to investors based in Japan. Nikkei’s initial report read, “Criminal charges to be filed if Binance fails to halt Japan operations.” However, Zhao revealed that the Binance team had been communicating with Japanese financial
Binance, one of the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchanges which is said to be the fastest growing startup in history, has been offline for several hours. The Binance development team along with its CEO Changpeng Zhao–who was recently included in the Forbes list of cryptocurrency’s richest people–announced that a server issue led the trading platform to be taken offline temporarily for maintenance. “Due to a significant increase in users and trading activity, Binance will need to extend the System upgrade and is expected to be completed by 2PM (UTC),” the Binance team stated, noting that trading will remain disabled during this
Several Central Asian countries have taken steps to embrace cryptos one way or another. Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Uzbekistan are some of the less conspicuous former Soviet republics, but now they are starting to appear on the crypto radar. With certain inherent advantages and some clever new policies, they try to attract investors and integrate into […]