It looks like it is that time again! The bears are out and everyone has a million and one reasons why. As you can expect, the latest bear market is no different to any others, by which I mean there are a stream of reasons for it, which vary from “my dog passed some green goo” to the usual “the SEC just rejected something/China is banning something else”. But what is the truth behind it all?

For a start I want to go on record to state that my crystal ball is actually broken and, believe it or not, I do not know the exact reason for the current bear market or when it will end but you can read my opinion in yesterday’s article about the current bear market and crypto manipulation if you’d like to.

As I stated yesterday, it is always hard to pinpoint the reason a market drops significantly without something like the VW emissions scandal being posted all over the news, so it is a moot point in my opinion. Anyway, I digress, there seems to be a consensus between crypto enthusiasts at present and that is that the American SEC is now the almighty judge of market trends and that their rejection of the most recent Bitcoin ETFs are the reason for the industry’s most recent drop in value. I beg to differ.

I am of the opinion that many people in the cryptoverse at present most likely do not know what an ETF even is and that a lot of people ‘invested’ in cryptocurrencies are doing so off the back of some random bloke on the internet’s opinion and not their own actual research. With that in mind I am going to try and explain what an ETF is before I explain why I do not think the recent ETF rejection is actually as damning as people are making out.

So, what is an ETF?

Simply put an ETF is exactly what the name implies, an Exchange-Traded Fund. If you think of stocks as assets which are traded all day long on a stock exchange and your investment as a representation of your share of the assets which are traded you pretty much have what an ETF is.

So, with a, for example, Bitcoin, ETF you are buying the right to a share of the pot of Bitcoin which is being traded by the ETF owner. Look at it like this: Mike owns 100 BTC and has managed to get his ETF approved and floated on a regulated stock exchange as the MIKE asset. You buy 50% of the MIKE assets available and are now entitled to 50% of the profits it makes, or lose 50% of your initial investment’s value depending which way it goes.

The reason ETFs are a big deal is simply the fact that the offer a much better form of liquidity to the crypto market and make it easier for traditional investors to get involved with the action.

Why is this latest rejection not as bad as people say?

To put it simply, the SEC never said that they are opposed to crypto ETFs or to Bitcoin as an innovation, store of wealth or asset. They simply stated that they are rejecting the most recent ETF proposal due to it not meeting their requirements. If anything, this is a good thing in my opinion.

The exact quote from the SEC report is as follows:

the Exchange has not met its burden under the Exchange Act and the Commission’s Rules of Practice to demonstrate that its proposal is consistent with the requirements of the Exchange Act Section 6(b)(5), in particular the requirement that a national securities exchange’s rules be designed to prevent fraudulent and manipulative acts and practices

As you can see for yourself, they are dubious as to the methods in which this application was made as it did not fall in line with their requirement for exchanges to govern themselves in a way which prevents fraud and manipulation. We all know how badly manipulation can affect the price of the entire crypto market so people should be happy that this was rejected if you ask me.

At the end of the day, getting SEC approval was never going to be an easy task and the only way to find out what they do like is by eliminating what they don’t like. My takeaway from this is to consider this to be the equivelent of knocking on doors to see which is the one where your mate lives at, you know his street but cant remember his door number and each door which he isn’t behind brings you one closer to the one he is behind. Keep knocking and keep faith.

Happiness.

Bonjourno! In the aim of taking a break from all the doom and gloom regarding the current status/sentiment of cryptocurrency investors I thought I would focus this article on one of few cryptocurrencies which I have a personal penchant for, Twist.

The reason I have an affinity with this particular cryptocurrency is quite simple, the team behind the Twist network are a hard working one which does not get involved with all the moon and lambo nonsense which so many other projects seems to focus on and, instead, the focus on actually getting their projects to market in time with their roadmap. On a more personal note, the team are based in my home city, London.

So far the Twist team have managed to stick to their roadmap 100% and I have been doing my utmost to report their progress on Something Decent, however, their latest achievement is one which I failed to report on time, for which I apologise.

The freely distributed TWIST coin was one which came with a lot of promise and, I am pleased to announce to those who may not already know that the Twist team have managed to get their web wallet up and running and ready for the public to use.

Their web wallet is one which is extremely easy to use (as per their initial plan with making Twist Network) and is one which features full functionality. As well as allowing users to send their TWIST coins, the Twist web wallet also allows TWIST holders to buy their Twist ID for a mere 50 coins. As you may know, the Twist ID is one of the focal points of the network as it allows their holders to do away with traditional crypto wallet addresses and simply use easy to remember, human readable names instead.

If you would like to have a go on the Twist wallet yourself you can do so on the ilnk below.

In other Twist related news I am happy to belatedly announce that the team have managed to get their coin listed on the popular New Zealand based exchange Cryptopia and have also managed to get their coin listed on crypto tracking website Coinmarketcap.com.

Happiness.

Please remember that this article is not to be taken as any form of investment advice and that you should do your own research before investing your hard earned cash into anything. We would also like to remind you that Something Decent is not in anyway responsible for the distribution of airdrops, bounties or giveaways unless it is stated that we are personally conducting them