“[Gensler] testified before Congress about cryptocurrency and blockchain on multiple occasions, pushing back against comparisons between cryptocurrencies and Ponzi schemes and declaring that the still-unlaunched Libra token met the requirements of being a security under U.S. law. At an MIT conference two years ago, he opined that there was a “strong case” XRP (XRP, +1.26%), the cryptocurrency closely associated with startup Ripple, is a security. Gensler called blockchain technology a “change catalyst” in a 2019 op-ed for CoinDesk.
Also on the list for the Biden review team for financial regulators are several other policy experts who have paid careful attention to cryptocurrency, blockchains and related matters:
- Simon Johnson, an economist and professor at the MIT Sloan School of Management, where he led digital currency research.
- Chris Brummer, a law professor and the faculty director of Georgetown University’s Institute of International Economic Law, testified in front of the U.S. Congress regarding Facebook’s Libra project.
- Mehrsa Baradaran, a University of California at Irvine School of Law professor, specializes in banking law and also testified as an expert witness at a Senate Banking Committee hearing on regulatory frameworks for blockchain and cryptocurrencies.
- Lev Menand, one of the original creators of the digital dollar concept, is an academic fellow and law professor at Columbia University.”
“The Acting Comptroller of the Currency presented the growing role of crypto in general and stablecoins in particular to the Senate today.
Today, roughly 60 million Americans own some type of cryptocurrency, with a total market cap of nearly $430 billion.
These figures clearly illustrate that this payment mechanism is now firmly entrenched in the financial mainstream. Cryptocurrency has become a popular mechanism for sending and receiving payments for goods and services because transactions post in real time and provide convenience and security.“
“It appears many Chinese miners have completed their annual migration from Sichuan, with Bitcoin’s hash rate spiking more than 40% in two days.
The sudden spike in mining activity suggests the network is likely to produce another significant difficulty adjustment.”
“Bitcoin’s market cap is rapidly surpassing the monetary base of multiple national currencies, and it looks like the Canadian dollar is next.
As Bitcoin (BTC) blasted through the $14,000 level, its market capitalization surpassed the monetary base of the Russian ruble. This measure includes both physical currency and bank reserves, both of which are typically held by a country’s central banks.
This move is no small feat for a cryptocurrency that is only 11 years old. In order for Bitcoin’s market capitalization to match the U.S. base money figure, the price would need to surpass $263,000.”
See Also: Nearly $360M in Bitcoin Moved to Ethereum in October Despite DeFi Cool Off
“Lebanon’s central bank is reportedly launching a digital currency in 2021. The intention has changed from affordable payments to confidence in Lebanon’s banks.”
See Also: Argentina’s Parliament will see a new bill presenting a framework for crypto
“At press time, BCH/BTC traded at 0.017 BTC, comfortably beating its previous record low of 0.0245 BTC seen in December 2018.
The hard fork of Bitcoin has seen little attention this year, as investors focused on Bitcoin and then the decentralized finance phenomenon. The announcement of another hard fork of the Bitcoin Cash network, set for Nov. 15, has done little to buoy the coin’s prospects.
For Litecoin (LTC), price data shows a similar story. LTC/USD traded at 0.0038 BTC on Nov. 10, increasingly close to its extant bottom of 0.003 BTC from March 2017. On the weekly chart, the pair printed its lowest close in history this month.“
“Cryptocurrency exchange Gemini is developing a “Wrapped Filecoin” (wFIL) service enabling the decentralized storage platform’s native token (FIL) to be used on the Ethereum network.
The Filecoin network is a decentralized alternative to platforms like Amazon Web Services on which users can use FIL to purchase storage space via an open market.”
See Also: Ethereum Stakers Commit 50,000 ETH to Upcoming Launch
“The one-year-old blockchain company is the latest tokenization outfit hoping to capture even a sliver of the hulking marketplace for private securities.
‘Most [private] securities do not trade in a secondary market.’ According to Texture CEO Richard Johnson, the right tech stack can fix that.
Texture hopes to have 20 issuers on its platform in the next six months. For comparison, tZero, one of the best-known security token marketplaces, only has three.”
See Also: Crypto Custodian Anchorage Gets SOC 1 Security Certification With Big 4 Auditor EY
See Also: Celsius reports it doubled its crypto holdings to $2.2B in six months
“Aiming to facilitate trading of physical grains, Cerealia is focusing on the international market for Russia, the world’s largest wheat supplier. Allowing shipments as big as 20,000 metric tons, Switzerland-based Cerealia aims to provide faster trades and more traceability using blockchain tech.
Traders can now be 100% certain they really did the trade, versus traditional over-the-phone brokerage.”
The Disrupt 