There is a very important milestone in the US tomorrow. Tuesday 2-6 Congressional Meeting on Cryptocurrencies.
The Senate Banking Committee will take testimony from Commodity Futures Trading Commission Chairman Christopher Giancarlo and Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman Jay Clayton.
https://qz.com/1200204/bitcoin-regulation-cftc-and-sec-weigh-in-on-crypto-oversight-at-us-senate-hearing/It seems that, in short, from the US, at least, (we can address Asia after);
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The SEC is going after ICOs = Clayton (head of SEC) says every ICO he has seen has been a securities offering. The problem is, none of them has registered as offerings with the SEC. “ICOs that are securities offerings, we should regulate them like we regulate securities offerings, end of story,” he said.
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The SEC is going after lawyers and accountants who enable illegal ICOs = “A note for professionals in these markets: Those who engage in semantic gymnastics and elaborate structuring exercises…are squarely in the cross-hairs of our enforcement division,” Clayton said.
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But some ICOs, like those conducted with a “SAFT” agreement, are probably safe = "This includes some of the biggest offerings of last year, like Filecoin, with marquee investors like Union Square Ventures. “I don’t think it necessarily follows that the SAFT is within the SEC’s sights,” said Preston Byrne, a structured-finance lawyer and a fellow at the Adam Smith Institute. Byrne has been a major critic of ICOs."
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The SEC draws a distinction between “pure cryptocurrencies” and ICOs = It’s not entirely clear what that distinction might be. But Clayton said ICOs should be regulated like securities offerings, without mentioning the regulatory status of “pure cryptocurrencies.”
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US Congress could give the SEC or CFTC more powers to oversee cryptocurrency exchanges = “I think we may need [additional legislative authority], I think we may need it,” Clayton said.
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The FBI is assisting = The FBI has recently seconded agents to the CFTC to analyze transactions in the bitcoin futures and spot markets to detect signs of terrorist financing and evasion of sanctions by countries like North Korea, Giancarlo said. The oversight might explain the recent bitcoin price crash. Said Giancarlo, “Word is getting out that we will go after misconduct, I think you’re seeing it in the price, and it’s an important step.”
^^ this/these statements hint at more regulation in the USA, giving cryptocurrency, or whatever it gets deemed in the future, much more viability in the long-run, not other way you can interpret direct quotes from the hearing today... so, yeah, while highly volatile because of recent Asiatic activity, I think it's safe to say, we're moving forward with it, regardless, in one way or another on a global scale.
oh, and this gem, which I don't quite understand;
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Don’t expect a bitcoin ETF any time soon = Clayton said the fact that exchange-traded funds (ETFs) are aimed at long-only retail investors, combined with issues concerning price discovery, custody, and volatility, mean that the regulator isn’t comfortable with green-lighting any applications yet. The crypto industry believes the hearing went well. Both Giancarlo and Clayton talked up the potential of “distributed ledger technology,” although Giancarlo noted that there would be no blockchain without bitcoin. The technology has “enormous potential,” Giancarlo said. Jerry Brito, the executive director of Coin Center, a blockchain-focused think tank in Washington DC, said the hearing showed that lawmakers want to fight crypto frauds and scams while letting Americans exercise a right to own cryptocurrencies. One prominent lawyer, who advises corporations on cryptocurrency matters, judged the SEC chief’s comments to be “neutral” while assessing the CFTC chief’s remarks as “positive.”
Crypto is turning out to be the rare industry where regulation is welcomed rather than opposed....because of this recent article (which already dictates that exists an American ETF).
https://www.theglobeandmail.com/globe-investor/funds-and-etfs/etfs/osc-approves-canadas-first-blockchain-etf/article37828183/Regardless of that which, also, signifies the strength and confidence in block-chain technology and btc (hello from Canada).
So, I'd say it's neat to see how the USA/CND governments are starting to embrace it, in some hopes of regulation, but, it's even weirder how those that think this (btc, block-chain technology) is philosophically about decentralization also seem to want some form of regulation... I know that is getting off topic, so, let me end with;
A mix of the Asiatic news, the panic selling and likely a hint of market manipulation (some might call it capitalizing on panic selling and is completely legal), but, it's definitely NOT any-one factor.
I think (in my opinion) this was a good and necessary market correction so the experts, miners, owners, traders and consumers can continue to solidify the alt-coin eco-system, the exchanges and the future of BTC and block-chain technology while slowly pushing out the fraudulent aspect that has been so rampart (I myself lost 4 bitcoin in MtGox back in 2012).
