Alexis Ohanian, co-founder of Reddit and known crypto bull, claimed that the crypto hype is gone, leaving space for true crypto believers. Ohanian spoke on the subject in an interview with Yahoo Finance released on Feb. 22. When asked if he is still a big believer in crypto, Ohanian acknowledged that the current state of the market is undoubtedly still considered to be a crypto winter, which means crypto prices are depressed. However, citing Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong, Ohanian emphasized that the bear market has contributed to the elimination of speculators, while true crypto believers have stayed to build real …

Top Stories This Week Fundstrat Global Advisors Expects 2019 to Bring More Institutional Investors to Crypto According to a report on the 2019 crypto outlook released by New York-based research company Fundstrat Global Advisors, incremental improvements in the crypto space can provide support for higher prices for cryptocurrencies. The report notes that, as the United States dollar is expected to weaken and more institutional investors enter the space, a visible market recovery can be expected. Fundstrat states that the current year’s crypto hangover can be attributed to the waning interest in the initial coin offering (ICO) sector as well as …

The article was updated on Feb. 20 to include a new comment. On Feb. 14, United States banking behemoth JPMorgan Chase announced its own cryptocurrency. Significantly, it is the first time a major U.S. bank has tapped into digital assets for direct use in business operations. It is fair to say that move comes unexpectedly for JPMorgan Chase, whose CEO, Jamie Dimon, is famous within the crypto community for his anti-Bitcoin (BTC) remarks. Here are the main outtakes from reports and comments about the new virtual currency, dubbed “JPM Coin.” JPM Coin aims to increase settlement efficiency, initially within three …

Terry Duffy, CEO of leading derivative market CME Group, has said that until governments start to accept cryptocurrencies, it is very difficult for major commercial banks to get involved in the market. Duffy made his comments during an interview with Bloomberg published on Feb. 14. When asked if Bitcoin’s (BTC) price has hit its bottom, Duffy said that he is not sure. The interviewer also brought attention to the JPM Coin, the cryptocurrency soon to be launched by United States banking giant JPMorgan to increase settlement efficiency, as recently reported by Cointelegraph. Duffy outlined a change in JPMorgan Chase’s attitude …

Ripple (XRP) CEO Brad Garlinghouse says the newly-announced digital asset from United States banking giant JPMorgan Chase “misses the point” of cryptocurrency, according to a tweet published on Feb. 14. As reported, JPMorgan Chase revealed its blockchain-powered JPM Coin yesterday, saying the asset will initially be used to increase settlement efficiency in select operations. Directly following the announcement, Garlinghouse responded on Twitter: “As predicted, banks are changing their tune on crypto. But this JPM project misses the point — introducing a closed network today is like launching AOL after Netscape’s IPO. 2 years later, and bank coins still aren’t the …

United States banking giant JPMorgan Chase (JPM) is launching its own cryptocurrency in a U.S. banking first, CNBC reported on Feb. 14. In a move commentators may see as unlikely, the multinational lender will use its newly developed asset, dubbed “JPM Coin,” to increase settlement efficiency, initially within three of its operations. Speaking to CNBC, Umar Farooq, who leads JPM’s blockchain focus, appeared buoyant on blockchain technology’s perspectives at the bank. “So anything that currently exists in the world, as that moves onto the blockchain, this would be the payment leg for that transaction,” he told the network: “The applications …

Former JPMorgan Chase executive Etienne Amic has been appointed as new CEO at Vakt, a blockchain-based commodity post-trade platform, according to a press release shared with Cointelegraph on Feb. 13. Having served as a managing director at both JPMorgan Chase and Mercuria Energy Trading S.A., Amic is expected to bring direct experience in commodities trading to the Vakt platform, which is designed to digitize physical commodities trading by cutting out paperwork. The new Vakt CEO has most recently served as co-founder and chairman of Vortexa, a cargo and analytics firm specializing in global crude oil and refined products markets, and …

Institutional investment is increasingly being seen as the future of crypto trading, with both Binance and Bittrex launching their own dedicated over-the-counter (OTC) desks in January. The desk launches come after Morgan Stanley published a bullish report in November, showing a strong pattern of institutional investment for Bitcoin. The latest developments indicate that some of the world’s largest exchanges are receiving increased demand from institutional investors, for whom OTC represents a lucrative opportunity. Cointelegraph takes a look at the latest launches and OTC news. Binance launches dedicated OTC desk On Jan. 23, the number-one ranked cryptocurrency exchange Binance announced the …

Joyce Chang, global research chair at JPMorgan Securities, has said that blockchain technology is still far from institutionalization and must still overcome key hurdles before it can break through to cross-industry adoption at scale. Chang made her comments during an interview on the “Bloomberg Daybreak: Americas” television show on Feb. 7. Chang noted that blockchain adoption — if not yet institutionalized — is being spearheaded by industries with particular characteristics where the technology can bring real and immediate backend efficiency gains. She highlighted those sectors that rely upon cumbersome legacy paperwork systems, giving the example of trade finance, where she …

American financial services giant Fidelity said that its cryptocurrency trading and custody platform is in the “final testing and process refinement periods” in a Medium blog post on Jan. 31. Per the announcement, the firm is currently providing services to a small, select group of clients while it continues to build the platform’s infrastructure. The firm states: “Our initial clients are an important part of our final testing and process refinement periods, which will eventually enable us to provide these services to a broader set of eligible institutions.” Fidelity announced the development of a crypto platform with the the launch …

Experts at financial services giant JPMorgan say that blockchain technology will provide benefits to banks and payment systems, Bloomberg reports on Jan. 29. JPMorgan’s chair of global research, Joyce Chang, said, “Blockchain isn’t going to reinvent the global payment system, but it will provide marginal improvements. The most meaningful impact will probably be three to five years away and mostly on trade finance.” A recent report led by Chang purportedly states that blockchain applications in trade-finance are more common because of the high potential gains from efficiency through digitization. She reportedly noted that, while cryptocurrencies have attracted the most attention, …

This year’s World Economic Forum (WEF) Annual Meeting has finished, and it’s time to recap the highlights. The forum — held in Davos, Switzerland, as per tradition — lasted from Jan. 22 to 25. Similar to the last year, cryptocurrencies were one of the major talking points in Davos. In general, it seems that the “Blockchain before Bitcoin” attitude prevailed this time, as the overall positive outlook on the technology coincided with a significant portion of crypto-bashing. WEF announced Global Council on Blockchain, co-chaired by BitPesa founder As one of the most important takeaways from the forum, the WEF appointed …