Algorithms that can decode market sentiment are making waves in the institutional crypto landscape, a July 17 report from Reuters claims. An arms race for algorithms With the resounding return of Bitcoin’s (BTC) volatility amid an ever-hotter crypto market, hedge funds and asset managers are increasingly turning to software developers to help them interpret and harness sentiment signals to their advantage. Bin Ren — CEO of Alan Howard-owned Elwood Asset Management — told Reuters that the soaring interest in developing algorithms capable of identifying price clues from the tumultuous social media landscape has become akin to “an arms race for …

United States house minority leader Kevin McCarthy praised Bitcoin (BTC) while criticizing Facebook’s Libra stablecoin. McCarthy made his comments during an interview with CNBC on July 16. During the interview, McCarthy said: “I like Bitcoin. Is it where it needs to be? No, but the real thing I like when it comes to Bitcoin is blockchain, ‘cause I like the security. I want government to actually start using blockchain.” He also explained that his concern over technology companies joining finance is anticompetitiveness. McCarthy believes that companies entering the space are looking to create a centralized system while tricking consumers into …

Japanese authorities are investigating the impact of Facebook’s Libra stablecoin, Cointelegraph Japan reported on July 12. Per the report, Japanese authorities have set up a liaison conference tasked with investigating the impact of Facebook’s stablecoin on monetary policy and financial stability. The conference will reportedly consist of the Bank of Japan, the Ministry of Finance and the Financial Services Agency and has already started meeting this week. The report claims that the objective of the newly formed group is to coordinate policies that would address the consequences of Libra’s implementation on regulation, tax, monetary policy, and payments settlement. Unspecified officials …

Dallas Mavericks basketball team owner and billionaire entrepreneur Mark Cuban defined Facebook’s Libra stablecoin a big mistake in an interview with CNBC published on July 12. During his interview, Cuban commented on the social media giant’s cryptocurrency endeavors. He said: “I’m not a big fan of what they’re doing there. [...] I think it’s a big mistake.” Cuban reportedly explained that he is more concerned about Libra’s global impact than the impact it will have in the United States. Per the report, he noted that “globally and in countries where there isn’t a lot of rule of law, or a …

Latin American social networking giant Taringa! has partnered with MakerDAO and e-wallet provider Airtm to launch a stablecoin-powered points system for its 27 million strong user base. According to an official Taringa! news release published on July 7, the development was revealed on Friday during the Blockchain Summit Latam in Mexico City. The pilot program, dubbed “Taringa! Pioneers,” will reportedly reward users with points for creating popular platform content, which can then be monetized by being converted into MakerDAO’s Ethereum blockchain-based stablecoin DAI. Taringa!’s news release places a strong accent on the program’s potential to offer users a secure and …

European Central Bank executive board member Benoit Coeure said that financial regulators must act fast to prepare for Facebook’s Libra stablecoin, Bloomberg reports on July 7. Per Bloomberg, Coeure argued on Sunday in Aix-en-Provence in southern France that allowing for the development of new financial services and asset classes in a regulatory void is irresponsible. He concluded: “We [financial regulators] have to move more quickly than we’ve been able to do up until now.” According to Coeure, the development of digital assets has exposed gaps in current financial regulations, and underlines banks’ slow rate of adoption of new technologies: “All …

Jeremy Allaire, co-founder and CEO of payments company Circle, said that Facebook's Libra will run in a closed-loop permission scheme that has its own requirements for regulation during an interview with Bloomberg released on July 5. During the interview, Allaire pointed out that there are different stablecoin implementations distinct in their regulatory approach. He explained: “There’s a really key difference between stablecoins that run on kind of closed-loop permission schemes — which is how Libra is being proposed today, at least in its initial incarnation — versus stablecoins that can run on the public internet.” Allaire also specified that the …

The United States House of Representatives Committee on Financial Services requested Facebook and its partners to stop the development of the Libra stablecoin. In a July 2 letter addressed to Facebook CEOs Mark Zuckerberg and David Marcus, and COO Sheryl Sandberg, the lawmakers request that Facebook and its partners immediately agree to a moratorium on the development of Libra and its dedicated Calibra wallet. The committee claims that the project may lead ”to an entirely new global financial system that is based out of Switzerland and intended to rival U.S. monetary policy and the dollar.” The committee notes that it …

Nobel prize-winning economist, Joseph Eugene Stiglitz, claims that “every currency is based on trust, but only a fool would trust Facebook’s Libra” in an article published on July 2. Stiglitz also notes that “in just a few short years, Facebook has earned a level of distrust that took the banking sector much longer to achieve.” He appears to fear that Facebook’s cryptocurrency could be hospitable to a shadow economy: “The last thing we need is a new vehicle for nurturing illicit activities and laundering the proceeds, which another cryptocurrency will almost certainly turn out to be.” Still, the economist also …

Over 30 advocacy groups have appeared as signatories on a request that Congress and regulators implement an official moratorium on Libra development, as per the letter published on July 2. The letter was also addressed to Facebook, with Mark Zuckerberg himself cc’d, and asked that the social media giant wait until Congress and regulators have scrutinized a detailed presentation of the proposed stablecoin-esque virtual currency. The letter includes a number of questions that the signatories say need answers before Libra can proceed, including the following: “The plan for Libra makes explicit and implicit promises to consumers – such as the …

The non-custodial crypto wallet solution ZenGo has created an open source project that purportedly provides proof-of-concept (PoC) for its ability to support social media giant Facebook’s virtual currency Libra, according to an official announcement by ZenGo on July 2. According to the announcement, this proof-of-concept project shows that it is possible to perform Libra transactions on the Libra testnet blockchain. However, the findings are limited, as the report cautions: “Obviously, this experiment is only based on a testnet and we will have to explore further once Libra makes its mainnet available. Additionally, there is no user interface in this PoC …

Social media giant Facebook has applied for a cryptocurrency business license to use its announced virtual currency Libra in New York, according to a report by Reuters on June 28 New York requires a special license for crypto operations called the BitLicense, which is a product of the state’s finance regulator, the New York State Department of Financial Services (NYDFS). According to the report, Facebook has also been in contact with regulators in England and Switzerland, presumably to discuss the terms of Libra compliance. Facebook is reportedly aiming to launch Libra by 2020, and a spokesperson for the social media …