The world is still at an early stage of crypto adoption. This type of preventative measures reflect real fears of banks worldwide - both of the existential threat that bitcoin represents, but also of the short term fears of the volatility of the crypto investments (they don't want people defaulting on their credit). The good news is that such early measures are part of a natural progression: it is clear that cryptocurrencies are here to stay (and that they will have a dramatic influence on our economic world). As such, as the fears subside and people start viewing the currencies responsibly, more sane policies will arise.

China's position is two-fold. First, regarding their recent clamp-down on bitcoin mining, the government is fearful of an overload on their electrical infrastructure. Second, regarding cryptocurrencies in general, the government is simply fearful of a loss of central control (as they always are). Surprisingly, the idea of crypto itself doesn't scare them - they are creating their own government-issued cryptocurrency - but they are fearful of the use of external coins to transfer money in and out of the country beyond their watch, and the ability of individuals to amass wealth without their notice.

Hey, I just saw this article posted on cointelegraph, although it appears (based on the user comments) that its veracity is not so clear. Does anyone have any information about it?

https://cointelegraph.com/news/indian-banks-suspending-bitcoin-exchange-accounts

Cute Idea! However, you need to add more weight based on the number of tweets pertaining to the ICO. Your top rated company has a score of 89% but based only on 9 tweets. I would think that a company with a lower sentiment score but based on thousands of tweets should be more reliable and trustworthy. Also, does your algorithm diffrentiate between unique users?

אתמול, בועדת הכספים בכנסת, היה דיון על נושא הקריפטו וצעדים רגולטרוים של הממשלה בעניין.

חה"כ הרצוג אף התייחס לנושא והעלה את הסרטון הבא אצלו לדף הפייסבוק:
https://www.facebook.com/IsaacHerzog/videos/1668428236533467/

האם מישהו מכיר מה היה ומה סיכמו בדיון?

What is truly special about bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies is that they offer access to wider population groups that previously wouldn't have such opportunities. I agree that some basic investment experience is educational and beneficial for younger people, but what is amazing with bitcoin is that such experiences can now be available to people around the world with a relative ease of access and entry.

Interesting, what do you mean by guidelines though? Are there actual regulatory or policy actions in place (or even legislative), or is it mostly just hostile discourse by politicians?

As with any new technological development in the financial/business realm, governments find themselves  chasing after the innovations with a delayed response. Same thing with cryptocurrencies now. I think it may be safe to assume that - at first - regulations may be irrelevant or problematic (due to not comprehending the crypto scene correctly), however, in the long run such regulation can be improved and help develop public confidence in cryptocurrencies.

This could increase investment and public use of cryptocurrencies and blockchains.

Note, the taxes depend on the legal regulations within each country. What country do you live in? Also, it is important to note that generally taxes are on the sale of cryptocurrency

Perhaps, although (and has been noted above) if the tax is too high for the transfers, the incentive to hoard the cryptocurrency increases and a fundamental principle or ideal of Bitcoin is hurt.

Hi all,

In my country of Israel, the govt. Securities Authority has announced that they are pursuing options to ban businesses based on bitcoin and cryptocurrencies from trading on the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange (https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/1.831170).

I'm trying to do a comparative research to see if other such policies have been put in place in other countries.

Does anyone know of other similar cases?

In General "Picking" an ICO is no different than "picking" an investment. But, you should do more than that....

As with any investment, you should take the time to research the company/idea to get a feel for them and make a decision based on how you view their chances for success are. Every investment has inherent risks, risks you can mitigate through good research.

For ICO, it is not just to have the perfect team with execution track record and of course to have the most disruptive idea that will impact the world, but moreover you should look carefully at their advisory board.

If the advisory board members are not just ones that were picked up along the process, but rather high rank officials from the non crypto world who cares a lot about their reputation and are afraid to be referred to a scam ICO, if those guys are in, it means the company/team/idea is worth looking into them.

I would add that the more advisory board members you have from the old world who highly care about their own reputation, the higher confidence you get about this ICO. so it not just elated to one guy in that advisory board...

Moreover, try to check if the company really cares about the token holder by reflecting true transparency before and after the ICO to make sure this company if the real thing!!

Hi all, I live in Israel - a country with relatively high regulation and tax rates. A recent article shows how bitcoin transfers may soon reach taxation rates of up to 47%! I’m wondering how that compares to other countries?
https://www.themarker.com/opinion/1.4727995

Are there any countries with higher rates?

Hey, I’ve just begun a side project through my work (we’ve been reading material online as well as been receiving some external advice from friends with blockchain experience). Can you be a bit more specific as to what type of project you are looking to start? Are you looking for technical help or more conceptual advice?