Opinions

Trump Banning Bitcoin Is Feasible But Highly Unlikely, Says Economist: United States president Donald Trump would cause a Bitcoin price crash if he banned it, but the law would likely prevent him, economist and trader Alex Krueger concluded on Twitter July 15th. Trump, who announced his distaste for cryptocurrency in general last week, initially failed to impact market sentiment. A subsequent breakdown over the weekend sent Bitcoin below $10,000. Publishing a dedicated thread on the chances of Trump banning the cryptocurrency, Krueger argued he could theoretically have some success. By targeting entry and exit points for retail and institutional investors, the president would turn Bitcoin into an isolated, more illiquid asset as it is used by lay consumers. “Trump could also go after fiat onramps, by simply forbidding banks to service crypto exchanges, or by requiring banks to not service exchanges unless conditions XYZ are fulfilled (and make that practically impossible),” Krueger summarized.

Mnuchin holds briefing on regulating cryptocurrency: Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin gives a briefing to discuss regulatory issues associated with cryptocurrency.

Here’s What Mnuchin Just Said About Libra & Bitcoin: Steven Mnuchin, the United States Secretary of the Treasury, just concluded an official briefing on crypto regulation and various security issues related to assets like bitcoin and Libra. Echoing the statement released by U.S. President Donald Trump a few days ago, Mnuchin reaffirmed the speculative nature of crypto assets.

Crypto Twitter: Mnuchin’s BTC Remarks Are ‘Complete & Total Validation’: Whether they admit it or not, the crypto community has been on pins and needles since President Trump tweeted his dislike for bitcoin. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin held a press conference at the White House dedicated entirely to cryptocurrencies today, and crypto Twitter was on the edge of its proverbial seat.

Crypto Mom Bemoans ‘Regulatory Escape Room’ Feel for Crypto: U.S. regulators FINRA and the SEC have put out a joint statement explaining why they have yet to approve applications from crypto exchanges such as Coinbase and Gemini requesting to receive licenses to operate as broker-dealers alongside their custody services. The statement comes in the wake of fraying patience and grumblings among key players in the crypto industry who have been stuck in an apparent pool of red tape holding up their license approvals. Even SEC Commissioner Hester Peirce, who is affectionately known as Crypto Mom, found the humor in the SEC’s explanation for stalling, saying:

CFTC’s New Chairman: Who Is Heath Tarbert, What He Thinks of Crypto?: July 15th will mark the first day in the office for the United States Commodity Futures Trading Commission’s new chairman, Heath Tarbert. As the crypto community is bidding farewell to the regulator’s outgoing head, J. Christopher Giancarlo, his successor’s stance on digital assets remains unknown. Turning to Tarbert’s record as a civil servant and attorney in the financial markets field could shed some light on the direction that the agency might take under his leadership. Giancarlo’s five-year tenure saw the rise of cryptocurrency derivatives as an object of regulatory oversight. Widely regarded as the crypto industry’s ally, “Crypto Dad” superintended the historic launch of regulated Bitcoin futures and advocated for a “do no harm” approach to blockchain regulation in his testimony before the U.S. Congress. At the same time, as some observers have pointed out, Giancarlo has stepped up enforcement efforts, turning the CFTC into an agency with teeth.

Drafted ‘Keep Big Tech out of Finance’ Act Surfaces Days Before Libra Hearings: A drafted bill entitled “Keep Big Tech out of Finance” has surfaced online, allegedly deriving from within the United States House of Representatives Financial Services Committee. The bill’s provenance is unconfirmed, but crypto news site The Block quotes an inside source as saying it is with the Financial Services Committee. The document reads: “A large platform utility may not establish, maintain, or operate a digital asset that is intended to be widely used as medium of exchange, unit of account, store of value, or any other similar function, as defined by the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System.” The alleged bill goes on to define “a large platform utility” as a tech company that earns annual global revenues in excess of $25 billion.

ТrueDigital Plans to Launch CFTC-Regulated Crypto Derivatives Exchange: New York-based financial technology firm trueDigital Holdings LLC is aiming to acquire the registrations of trueEX LLC in a bid to launch a fully-regulated crypto derivatives exchange. Per the release, trueDigital has concluded an agreement in principle to acquire the Designated Contract Market (DCM) and Swaps Execution Facility registrations of CFTC-regulated exchange trueEX LLC. The deal thus is subject to CFTC approval.Upon approval, trueDigital will roll out a crypto derivatives exchange fully-regulated by the CFTC, where it will list physically-deliverable Bitcoin derivatives for institutional investors. TrueDigital CEO Thomas Kim said that “adding the exchange to our ecosystem delivers a complete end-to-end offering, currently unavailable today, that encompasses tokenization, payments, market data and settlement for the benefit of our clients and partners.”

Circle CEO Hopes Libra’s Unique Needs Trigger Positive Regulation: Jeremy Allaire, co-founder and CEO of payments company Circle, said that Facebook’s Libra will run in a closed-loop permission scheme that has its own requirements for regulation during an interview with Bloomberg. During the interview, Allaire pointed out that there are different stablecoin implementations distinct in their regulatory approach. He explained: “There’s a really key difference between stablecoins that run on kind of closed-loop permission schemes — which is how Libra is being proposed today, at least in its initial incarnation — versus stablecoins that can run on the public internet.”

UK Finance Chief Ready to Engage with ‘Potentially Transformative’ Libra: The UK is studying the properties of Libra in-depth to prevent the digital currency from damaging the economy. This is what Philip Hammond, Chancellor of the Exchequer of the United Kingdom, said in a recent interview with CNBC’s Squawk Box. Hammond explained that regulators must fully understand how Libra works to counter the risks associated with a project of this magnitude before it happens, saying: “It’s potentially a positive, transformative step, but it also has the potential to deliver great risk into the system.”

Nouriel Roubini Gloats Over UK Push to Ban Crypto Derivatives: Economics professor and renowned crypto basher Nouriel ‘Dr. Doom’ Roubini is extending his rivalry with BitMEX CEO Arthur Hayes beyond the debate stage. Hours after debating Hayes in Taipei during the 2019 Asia Blockchain Summit, Dr. Doom hailed the proposal by the UK’s Financial Conduct Authority to ban crypto derivatives in the region, saying the tide had turned from “buy, buy to bye-bye.” This was in a jab at BitMEX and Hayes.

Millionaire Tycoon Kevin O’Leary Blasts Crypto As ‘Rogue Currency’ in Showdown With Circle CEO Jeremy Allaire: Kevin O’Leary, aka “Mr. Wonderful,” a Canadian businessman and television personality, says cryptocurrencies are “rogue.” His latest remarks are a swift doubling down on earlier comments when he characterized Bitcoin as “garbage” and “a digital game”. In a recent segment on CNBC, O’Leary dukes it out with Jeremy Allaire, the co-founder and CEO of peer-to-peer payments fintech Circle, over the validity of the crypto industry.

Facebook’s blockchain lead says ‘no intention’ for Libra to influence global monetary policy: Facebook’s head of blockchain, David Marcus, is slated to address U.S. lawmakers in the House and Senate this week. Ahead of his testimony, Marcus provided written testimony in an effort to answer some questions surrounding Facebook’s Libra. Marcus said Libra won’t launch without regulatory approval.

Congressman Reintroduces Hard Fork Tax Clarity Bill: U.S. Representative Tom Emmer has reintroduced a bill that benefits taxpayers who hold forked cryptocurrencies. The bill is called the “Safe Harbor for Taxpayers with Forked Assets” and it seeks to create clarity around the taxation of assets that results from hard forks. “Taxpayers suffering from the uncertainty of tax guidance are being unfairly punished for investing in an emerging technology. This safe harbor will protect the taxpayers until the IRS addresses this important issue,” the press release explains.

Avoid State Taxes on Crypto With US Supreme Court’s Recent Trust Decision? by Robert W. Wood, a tax lawyer representing clients worldwide from the offices at Wood LLP in San Francisco. He is the author of numerous tax books and writes frequently about taxes for Forbes, Tax Notes and other publications.

US a Crypto Exchange Scarecrow — What Needs to Change? by Simon Chandler, Cointelegraph.

Bitcoin Still ‘Wildly Bullish’ Despite Sharp Recent Retreat, Experts Say: Despite the recent fall of Bitcoin, experts have not yet abandoned their bullish sentiment. In fact, it seems that current events have only served to reinforce this perception. While it is true that bitcoin experienced a sharp drop, breaking essential supports for swing and day traders, in a long term vision it is possible that this is only an exception or even a shadow in long-term candles, which could serve to provide further stability to trends.