Bitcoin Latest News

Latest Bitcoin News

Dutch Finance Minister Advocates Changes to European Crypto Laws

Wopke Hoekstra, the Dutch finance minister, has issued a letter to Holland’s parliament describing the current regulatory framework pertaining to cryptocurrencies as “insufficiently equipped.” The minister advocates the development regional and international regulatory efforts in response to the burgeoning digital currency phenomenon.

The letter’s preface asserts that “bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies” experienced an “enormous” boon in popularity during 2017. Mr. Hoekstra states that “the number of Dutch citizens that invested in cryptocurrency rose sharply in a short time,” adding that “recent research by Kantar TNS indicates that now about half a million Dutch households” own virtual currencies.

Markets Update: Crypto Assets Spike But Traders Are Skeptical

Most of the top crypto assets are seeing gains today as many cryptocurrencies suffered losses over the past week. BTC/USD markets reached a weighted average of $9,892 across global exchanges during the overnight trading sessions. This rise follows BTC/USD prices touching a low of $8,366 on March 9 and many other digital assets reaching lows as well. After most crypto-assets spiked during this morning’s early trading sessions, this afternoon a significant amount of them are seeing losses once again. 

The overall market capitalization of all 1500+ digital assets is roughly around $394Bn after a vast majority of cryptocurrencies shaved billions off their valuations over the past six days. During Sunday’s trading sessions on March 11, BTC/USD markets and many other cryptos started seeing some relief. Currently, BTC volume is decent as there’s been roughly $6Bn worth traded over the past 24 hours against various crypto pairs and fiat currencies.

PwC Reveals Blockchain Analytics Tool For Tracking ICO Tokens

Major accounting firm, Pricewaterhouse Coopers (PwC), has announced that it is currently trialing a blockchain analytics tool designed to trade digital tokens from launch. PwC has stated that the software will assist companies in guarding against the misuse of their tokens for illicit purposes.

PwC and its Hong Kong forensic services partner, Eric Young, have indicated that the company seeks to capitalize a growing interest in raising funds through initial coin offerings (ICOs) among businesses in Asia’s manufacturing, technology, and retail sectors. 

Analysts have inferred that PwC hopes to capitalize on the migration of many Asian cryptocurrency companies to Hong Kong and Singapore – owing the respective jurisdictions’ lack of prohibitive regulations regarding ICOs amid China’s intensifying cryptocurrency crackdown. 

Silicon Valley VCs Help Crypto Hedge Fund Reach Quarter Billion Target

With bitcoin hovering at around only $9,000 and the entire cryptocurrency market at similar low levels, short term speculators are acting as if a great calamity is upon us. Long term investors on the other hand are just entering the ecosystem now and building up a portfolio of assets that offer growth opportunities uncorrelated to stocks and commodities.

Multicoin Capital, a Texas-based crypto investment fund with a multi-year time horizon, now expects to close its $250 million flagship fund by the end of Q2 2018, up from just $100 million target when it was launched in October 2017.    

China’s PBOC Governor Speaks Against Speculative Cryptocurrencies

This week the People’s Bank of China (PBOC) governor, Zhou Xiaochuan, spoke about both public and privately issued cryptocurrencies. Zhou details that the central bank dislikes “speculative cryptocurrency products” and the bank does not officially recognize digital currencies like bitcoin. Further Zhou explains the bank is monitoring projects like bitcoin and initial coin offerings (ICO), and aims to ramp up regulatory actions.