Head of Bank for International Settlements Calls For Clampdown On Cryptocurrencies

The BIS is the central banks of central banks…

Head of Bank for International Settlements Calls For Clampdown On Cryptocurrencies:

Central banks must clamp down on Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies to stop them “piggybacking” on mainstream institutions and becoming a “threat to financial stability,” Agustín Carstens the head of the Bank for International Settlements stated, FT reported.

Carstens, condemned Bitcoin as “a combination of a bubble, a Ponzi scheme and an environmental disaster.”

His comments come after weeks of backlash against cryptocurrencies by mainstream financial institutions contributed to a steep fall in the price of Bitcoin.

Read moreHead of Bank for International Settlements Calls For Clampdown On Cryptocurrencies

Why Bitcoin Is Soaring: Goldman-Backed Circle Buys Crypto Exchange Poloniex

Why Bitcoin Is Soaring: Goldman-Backed Circle Buys Crypto Exchange Poloniex:

Circle Internet Financial, a cryptocurrency-focused financial-services firm backed by Goldman Sachs, announced that it is buying crypto exchange Poloniex, “a move that immediately makes Circle one of the largest and most influential companies in the industry”

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Bitcoin Slides As Coinbase Informs 13,000 Customers Of Imminent Data Handover To IRS

Bitcoin Slides As Coinbase Informs 13,000 Customers Of Imminent Data Handover To IRS:

Having neared $12,000 last week, Bitcoin prices have dipped back into the red for February, accelerating below $10,000 this weekend as news that the US’ largest cryto-exchange, Coinbase, will be turning over 13,000 customers’ information to The IRS.

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Venezuela Launches Oil-Backed ‘Petro’ Cryptocurrency Amid US Sanctions

Venezuela Launches Oil-Backed ‘Petro’ Cryptocurrency Amid US Sanctions:

MOSCOW (Sputnik) – The pre-sale of Venezuelan own cryptocurrency “Petro,” which is backed by the country’s oil reserves, has started.

Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro announced on Twitter that the cryptocurrency that has been launched at 4 am GMT was poised to strengthen the national economy and help overcome the financial blockade.

In December, Maduro announced the idea to create a cryptocurrency system, called Petro and backed by the country’s oil reserves, which is expected to help the country to overcome the financial blockade. The Venezuelan Finance Ministry noted that cryptocurrency was necessary for carrying out financial transactions and searching for new financing options.

Read moreVenezuela Launches Oil-Backed ‘Petro’ Cryptocurrency Amid US Sanctions

Bitcoin surging higher after mystery trader buys $344mn in cryptocurrency

FYI.

Bitcoin surging higher after mystery trader buys $344mn in cryptocurrency:

Top cryptocurrency bitcoin recovered to $11,000 on Monday, having almost doubled in value since hitting a low of $6,000 earlier this month.

On Sunday, its price rose to $11,328 following news that an unknown investor had bought $344 million worth of bitcoin between February 9 and February 12. The purchase was preceded by a huge sell-off that had erased more than 50 percent of the cryptocurrency market value amid speculation of growing regulation and security fears.

Bitcoin fell from $20,000 in December to below $6,000 on February 4. However, after the news of the huge buy, other investors poured money into crypto-assets.

Read moreBitcoin surging higher after mystery trader buys $344mn in cryptocurrency

Doug Casey on Why Gold Could Go “Hyperbolic”

Doug Casey on Why Gold Could Go “Hyperbolic”:

Justin’s note: Volatility has come storming back.

Just look at the CBOE Volatility Index (VIX), which measures how volatile investors expect the market to be over the next 30 days.

It’s up 89% since the start of the year. Last week, it hit the highest level since 2016.

Investors aren’t used to this. After all, last year was the least volatile year ever for U.S. stocks. That lulled many investors to sleep. It led them to take risks they would normally never take.

Now, those same people are wondering what to do. They aren’t sure if this is just a run-of-the-mill pullback…or the start of something much worse.

To help answer this question, I called up Doug Casey. I knew he would have an interesting take on this matter…

*****

Justin: Doug, U.S. stocks took a beating recently. Where do you see things going from here?

Doug: Well, I hate to make a firm prediction of timing. The fact that things have held together, against all odds, since 2009, has underlined the old saying about just because something is inevitable doesn’t mean it’s imminent. Predictions of disaster, and all these things unwinding, have been wrong over the last half a decade. And the smart bet is always for muddling through, in the direction of progress. But it seems that we’ve finally reached a peak, a major turning point.

Justin: So, what have you done to protect your wealth?

Doug: At the beginning of the year, I took all my original capital out of cryptos, plus 150% profits. I also took profits on crypto stocks. I got in late, and out a bit late. But it was a happy experience.

Read moreDoug Casey on Why Gold Could Go “Hyperbolic”

World Bank Chief Says Cryptocurrencies Are “Ponzi Schemes”

FYI.

World Bank Chief Says Cryptocurrencies Are “Ponzi Schemes”:

“In terms of using Bitcoin or some of the cryptocurrencies, we are also looking at it, but I’m told the vast majority of cryptocurrencies are basically Ponzi schemes…”

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Bitcoin Surges Back Above $8500 As Goldman Doubts Cryptocurrency Survival

Bitcoin Surges Back Above $8500 As Goldman Doubts Cryptocurrency Survival:

Following reassuring words from US securities regulators yesterday, Bitcoin has extended its rebound back above $8500 (from below $6000), shrugging off Goldman Sachs’ latest report questioning cryptocurrencies’ long-term existence.

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Bitcoin Bloodbath Builds – Now Among Biggest Crashes Ever

Bitcoin Bloodbath Builds – Now Among Biggest Crashes Ever:

Update 1305ET: Bitcoin just traded at $7,000 for the first time since Nov 14th 2017.

This leaves Bitcoin down 47% year-to-date, the worst start to a year for the cryptocurrency since inception…

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“Dr. Doom” Nouriel Roubini Says Bitcoin Is The “Biggest Bubble In Human History”

“Dr. Doom” Nouriel Roubini Says Bitcoin Is The “Biggest Bubble In Human History”:

NYU economist Nouriel Roubini – aka “Dr. Doom” – has long been a cryptocurrency skeptic. So it’s hardly surprising that he delighted in bashing the cryptocurrency during an appearance on Bloomberg TV Friday, where he said the bitcoin boom that carried the price of a single token to $20,000 late last year was “the biggest bubble in human history” and that this “mother of all bubbles” is finally crashing..

And, of course,

And it’s not just Bitcoin, Roubini added. There are more than 1,300 cryptocurrencies or ICOs, and “most of them are even worse” than the largest digital token. These constitute a “a bubble to the power of two or three,” he said.

Furthermore, while many of bitcoin’s critics (Warren Buffett, Ray Dalio, Jamie Dimon – though Dimon later recanted) have clarified that they see value in “blockchain technology”, which many have proclaimed has the potential to change the world by disrupting industries as diverse to Wall Street and health care.

Read more“Dr. Doom” Nouriel Roubini Says Bitcoin Is The “Biggest Bubble In Human History”

Bank Of America, JPMorgan Bar Crypto Purchases On Credit Card

Bank Of America, JP Morgan Bar Crypto Purchases On Credit Card:

The second largest US bank said it “will begin declining credit card transactions with known cryptocurrency exchanges” starting today.

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Bitcoin Crashes Below $9,000 – Lowest Since Thanksgiving

Bitcoin Crashes Below $9,000 – Lowest Since Thanksgiving:

Bitcoin is now down 50% from its record highs in mid-December, plunging to an $8000 handle this morning following headlines from India (which appear to have been misunderstood)…

Bitcoin is at its lowest level since Nov 26th 2017…

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Unknown Group Pays $175 Million For 74,000 Acres In Nevada For Mysterious Ethereum Project

Unknown Group Pays $175 Million For 74,000 Acres In Nevada For Mysterious Ethereum Project:

All told, Blockchains bought 74,000 acres for $175 million – the largest deal since the park was developed in 1998, and more than the Gigafactory and the other corporate campuses.

A little-known company focused on the underlying technology behind cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin has purchased a huge chunk of land at a Northern Nevada industrial park.

Storey County Commissioner and Tahoe-Reno Industrial Center broker Lance Gilman said he closed escrow last week on the sale of 67,125 total acres of land to Blockchains, LLC, a business that studies and develops applications for blockchain distributed ledger technology, the decentralized platform that makes up the backbone of Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies

Though Gilman said he was prohibited from discussing terms of the sale, which is expected, he said that total value of the 74,000 acres in land sales closed this month at the park, including the sale to Blockchains, was worth about $175 million.

“There’s no question — they’re going to have a major footprint in the Tahoe-Reno Industrial Center,” he said.

But little information is publicly available about the company or its intentions, though Gilman says they now own more than 104 square miles at the industrial park. The land sale was first reported by Nevada Newsmakers.

According to the company’s website, which provides only a vague description of what the company does, Blockchains, LLC is a “premier innovator” in the blockchain industry, specializing in “financial services, software development of distributed applications (Dapps) for the Ethereum blockchain.”

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Bitcoin Battered On Report Bitfinex, Tether Were Subpoenaed Last Month

Bitcoin Battered On Report Bitfinex, Tether Were Subpoenaed Last Month:

U.S. regulators are scrutinizing one of the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchanges as questions mount over a digital token linked to its backers. This follows reports of the company severing its relationship with its auditor.

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