Old Trump yells at Bitcoin; real target Facebook
I write a newsletter on Bitcoin and cryptocurrency every Sunday morning that reaches thousands in North America. Got this from a friend? Sign up here. — E
Old Trump yells Bitcoin; real target Facebook
U.S. President Donald Trump has attacked Bitcoin.
His tweet caused a stir in the cryptocurrency world. It was the first time the man has commented on Bitcoin.
But Bitcoin was not Trump’s real target, you’d discern if you read his tweet closely, as the Financial Times has done.
When the British newspaper reported on the tweet, it focused on the fact that Trump’s attack included Facebook’s proposed Libra coin, and he “warned that the social media network might be subject to full banking regulation.”
Why did Trump choose now to attack the 10-year-old Bitcoin? It’s because of Libra, announced by Facebook in June. Indeed, he lumped the two together when they actually have little in common.
As I wrote in The Guardian, the coin makes Facebook too powerful. Trump no doubt sees that — his tweet came after the U.S. Federal Reserve called for a halt to Libra — and perhaps that’s a good thing.
World: far-east winds of change are here
Remember last week, when I wrote the Chinese government’s attitude toward cryptocurrency may be changing? Well, it totally is. Facebook’s Libra has forced the Asian giant’s central bank into stepping up research into creating its own digital currency, an official says.
The big U.S. bank Goldman Sachs has launched a new crypto business, and it is looking to go “further than ever before.” It once launched a similarly ambitious plan, but that fizzled out when Bitcoin prices fell.
Bitcoin price: clinging to support, may fall
Bitcoin is clinging to support levels and may fall further, technical analysis shows. The world’s largest cryptocurrency is at $10,635 (C$13,882) as of noon Sunday, Eastern Time, down 5 per cent for the week. Bitcoin rose to as high as $13,000 in the middle of the week, before falling after the U.S. Federal Reserve’s comment on Libra.
Canada: new rules for exchanges in 2020
Canada’s cryptocurrency exchanges will come under the country’s anti-money-laundering watchdog by next summer. They will be required to identify clients and report transactions over C$10,000. Some exchanges have already been complying voluntarily. An expert says some international exchanges could stop servicing Canadians as a result.
The U.S. patent office has about 2,200 blockchain applications, of which 437 were approved. In contrast, only 100 patent applications appear to have been filed to the Canadian Intellectual Property Office, of which only one appears to have been granted.
If you like what you've read, I welcome donations.
Bitcoin address: 1HrH18sn1fP5Fmr2RkmsFtCjcNsh2EVoxw