Privacy Is Paramount: How KYC Makes Us All Less Free

KYC (Know Your Customer) policies and endless private data collection, coupled with force-backed, violent legislation compromise the utility and ethics of crypto trading. An uncompromising stance on user privacy is critically important to crypto traders and peer-to-peer transaction. It’s not about having nothing to hide, but about sound economics, human dignity, and creating a more … Read more

Zuckbucks or Bust: How SEC Rulemaking Hurts Startup Cryptos and Favors Big Tech

SEC guidance has created a more attractive environment for regulated tech firms like Facebook to offer proprietary cryptoassets integrated into their existing products that can be legally traded on existing crypto-exchanges as non-securities. Meanwhile, the SEC has targeted startup cryptos for increased scrutiny. Also Read: SEC Commissioner Says Time Is Right for Bitcoin ETFs — … Read more

Bitcoin Payments Are Being Bulldozed for Political Reasons

Bitcoin Core wants to distance itself politically from the former project leader Gavin Andresen, the payment protocol BIP070 he was involved with, and from the BCH-friendly Bitpay payment processor company. The attempts to remove software associated with Gavin Andresen are now having real-world effects on the security of bitcoin payments. Also read: How to Prove … Read more

Our Value of Money Is Subjective But That Doesn’t Make It Meaningless

In my last op-ed, I discussed how the value we place on items and goods is subjective based on Carl Menger’s Subjective Theory of Value and how these concepts apply to people’s perception of value with things like fiat, gold, and bitcoin. The post outlined the idea that money cannot serve as a store of … Read more

Putting an End to the Bitcoin Store of Value Fallacy

Over the last few years, many have claimed that bitcoin core (BTC) has turned into, or will soon become, a store of value (SoV). Proponents of the BTC-based SoV theory seem to think that money can somehow store value and if it’s held long enough, the price will be higher or predictably useful when spent … Read more

Russian Banks Join Chinese Swift – Is the Dollar Era Under Threat?

As a Saudi oil minister once remarked, the Stone Age didn’t end because we ran out of stones. It seems it’s neither the deficit of a tool nor its deficiencies that make it obsolete, but rather the invention of new tools that do the job better. With increasing competition, will the U.S. dollar continue to … Read more

It’s 2019 and IBM Is Still Trying to Find a Use Case for Blockchain

IBM claims that six banks will issue stablecoins using its World Wire protocol which is based on the Stellar network. According to the tech giant, three banks have publicly committed to the initiative, and the remainder will reveal themselves soon. The announcement joins the resurgence of blockchain razzmatazz this year that feels eerily similar to … Read more

Stablecoins Are Threatened by These Two Major Issues

On the heels of recent commentary from the published correspondence between Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) chairman Jay Clayton and representative Ted Budd, SEC senior advisor Valerie Szczepanik explained at Austin’s SXSW conference that stablecoins may be violating current securities laws. Also read: Payglobal Provides Cryptocurrency to Fiat Transfers With Existing Bank Cards Stablecoins May … Read more

Market Cap: A Flawed Ranking System for Valuing Crypto

Market cap is often used as a metric of importance in the crypto industry. Communities will react jubilantly as their preferred coin moves up the rankings. People will often invest in the top X coins based solely on their market cap as they think it is representative of a diversified portfolio. However, is market cap … Read more