Last week came with exciting news in the crypto space with news out of India that Bitcoin is back and not so exciting news that Facebook might be having a Libra rethink.
Bitcoin’s Day in Court
Last week Wednesday, India’s Supreme Court gave a decision in bitcoin’s favour by striking down the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) April 2018 circular banning regulated financial institutions from providing services to crypto businesses.
The ban which was on for almost 2 years made it difficult for crypto traders in India to directly deposit Indian rupee (INR) from bank accounts to crypto exchanges. But don’t get too excited yet, as the reserve Bank of England might be looking to appeal the case.
Non-fan alert
The new Governor of the Bank of England (BOE) who’s only a few days away from resuming office appears not to be a Bitcoin fan.
At a Treasury Select Committee with members of the U.K. Parliament, Andrew Bailey said those holding bitcoin should “be prepared to lose all of your money”
Prior to this in a December 2017 BBC interview, Bailey has given the same warning “If you want to invest in Bitcoin, be prepared to lose all your money” while also calling Bitcoin “volatile” and an “odd commodity”.
He is right, Bitcoin is volatile but about losing all your money we definitely disagree on that and we are sure Max Keiser would also.
$100,000 in 2020 prediction
According to Timothy Maxwell “Max” Keiser an American broadcaster and filmmaker, the coronavirus would drive the price of Bitcoin to $100,000 this year.
Max who hosts a financial program broadcast also believes that 2020 could see a recurrence of 2008 when the financial markets took a plunge.
Max believe that global panic over coronavirus would have a profound impact on Bitcoin uptake this year.
While he may and may not be right, we can’t foresee the future. What we can recommend is that you should try to stay safe during this period. Here are some safety tips to prevent you from getting infected with the coronavirus.
South Korea and Crypto Law
Last week South Korea became one of the first countries to pass a comprehensive crypto law.
The law provides a framework for the regulation and legalization of cryptocurrencies and crypto exchanges in South Korea. It also gives existing financial institution regulatory oversight into cryptocurrency especially to develop rules around anti-money laundering, KYC and other processes.
In 2017 a survey revealed that a third of the country’s workers were active investors in cryptocurrencies. The law will dive the development of crypto and blockchain in a regulated space.
Facebook is having a Libra rethink
Right from the moment that Facebook introduced Libra it has faced resistance from regulators.
The pressure from regulators seems to be telling as Facebook is reconsidering the Libra cryptocurrency project so that the network accepts multiple coins, including those issued by central banks. This is different from what it originally intended which was to create a single global digital currency.
