The power that influencers have in affecting public perception and therefore causing alterations in the value of a product, service, asset or currency has increased to the point where they can crash or uplift entire markets with their content and takes. The Elon Effect In 2021, Elon Musk could send the price of the famous memecoin Dogecoin (DOGE) up by 50% with just a single tweet. He still has a lot of power over the crypto markets, and several people in the cryptocurrency world and traditional finance have accused Musk of manipulating the cryptocurrency market with just a few tweets. …

Cryptocurrency had its Lehman moment with FTX — or, perhaps, another Lehman moment. The macroeconomic downturn has not spared crypto, and as November rolled around, nobody knew that we were in for the collapse of an empire worth billions of dollars. As the rumors of bankruptcy began to take hold, a bank run was inevitable. Sam “SBF” Bankman-Fried, the once effective altruist now under house arrest, continued to claim that assets were “fine.” Of course, they were not. From Genesis to Gemini, most major crypto organizations have been affected by the contagion effect in the aftermath. The problem with exchanges …

Bitcoin’s network hashrate has returned to regular levels again, days after freezing temperatures across the United States put a strain on the nation's electricity grid — leading to a temporary drop in hashrate. In the days leading up to Christmas, bone-chilling temperatures swept across the United States, leading to millions without power and claiming at least 28 lives. According to reports, Bitcoin miners in Texas, which accounts for a significant portion of the country's hashrate, voluntarily curtailed operations to give power back to the grid — so that residents can keep their homes heated. The disruptions appear to have put …

Republican Senator Pat Toomey, who is set to retire from U.S. Congress at the end of the term, has used one of his last few weeks in office to introduce a new stablecoin bill, aimed at creating a regulatory framework for “payment stablecoins.” Toomey — who also serves as the Ranking Member of the U.S. Banking Committee — said the Dec. 21 bill, called the Stablecoin TRUST Act of 2022 would serve as a framework for stablecoin regulation for his fellow senators who are looking to push out stablecoin legislation in 2023. In a statement, the senator called stablecoins an …

If you saw the returns in my crypto portfolio this year, you would take a pass on my predictions for the direction of the cryptocurrency market. So, I will stick to what I know and share some regulatory predictions for the crypto industry. Few legislative changes A few minor victories will logroll small legislative fixes into “must pass” bills like the defense authorization or omnibus spending bills. The top candidate would be a de minimis exemption for smaller crypto transactions to exempt users from capital gains tax liability every time they purchase a coffee with crypto. The protection for noncustodial …

It would be ideal for the industry for Congress to weigh in on its fate rather than leaving it to unelected regulators at the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). To that end, representatives from both sides of the aisle have introduced bills designed to offer “regulatory clarity.” The moderate position seems to favor placing crypto mostly under the jurisdiction of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC). To be sure, there are two Senate bills in particular that are not ideal. Boozman-Stabenow lacks clarity Democratic Senate Agriculture Committee Chairwoman Debbie Stabenow has coauthored one proposal with Republican Sen. John Boozman. With …

United States Banking Committee chairman Sherrod Brown has suggested that the Securities Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) should perhaps consider a ban on cryptocurrencies. Brown’s comments were made in a Dec. 18 appearance on NBC’s “Meet the Press” although the Senator quickly added that a ban would be difficult to enforce. “We want them to do what they need to do at the same time, maybe banning it, although banning it is very difficult because it would go offshore, and who knows how that would work.” Earlier, in response to a host's question about Senator …

The Federal Reserve’s strategy to hike interest rates may continue, making it difficult for the crypto industry to bounce back. For crypto assets to become the hedge against inflation, the industry needs to explore ways to decouple crypto from traditional markets. Decentralized finance (DeFi) can perhaps offer a way out by breaking away from legacy financial models. How Federal Reserve policies are affecting crypto In the 1980s, Paul Volcker, the chairman of the Federal Reserve Board, introduced the interest hiking policy to control inflation. Volcker raised interest rates to over 20%, forcing the economy into a recession by reducing people’s …

Former president and crypto hater Donald Trump’s bizarre NFT collectible project has left the community baffled. Even conservatives and avid MAGA supporters are scratching their heads, while analyst Eric Wall likened the project to a “SimpDAO.” In what Trump called a “major announcement” via his social media platform Truth Social on Dec. 15, the former president unveiled a collection of 45,000 NFT trading cards, with the artwork depicting himself in various outfits such as golf attire, hunting gear and a superhero costume. Thank God, the digital trading cards are here. It was indeed a MAJOR ANNOUNCEMENT. pic.twitter.com/T1nsqRwr92 — Ben Shapiro …

Does the crypto industry’s funding space need an overhaul? This is one of many questions swirling in the wake of FTX’s downfall: When the prominent exchange collapsed, it left behind a long line of helpless creditors and lenders — including many promising projects dependent on funds promised by Sam Bankman-Fried and company. But there is a bigger problem at the heart of the current funding picture, wherein deep-pocketed venture capital firms throw their weight around in the low-liquidity Web3 market, heavily backing early-stage projects before cashing out at a profit once retail has FOMO'd into the market. For all the …

In the months following the announcement of my company’s first experimental title, Cyberstella, visits to my personal LinkedIn profile increased by an astonishing 300%. What does this tell us about the rising trend of anonymous developers popping up in every Web3 community to spam users with investment opportunities and then disappear from the face of the Earth? Well, it spells out trouble for anonymous crypto developers who think they can get away with never putting their face where the money is, so to speak. The fundamental principle behind crypto investing is a two-step process: Issue your project’s native token, leverage …

Only one of the following news items is real, but someday, all will sound equally comical. Headline, 1896: The owner of Wagoneer & Sons, a leading horse-drawn carriage maker, has announced the adoption of a new machine called the “internal combustion engine” to improve its manufacturing process. “Gas engines are powerful but dangerous,” the owner said. “We will use them to make better wagons. Headline, 1918: The American Association of Candle Makers has announced a new initiative to electrify its wax-making process. It believes that electricity is too dangerous to use for lighting but can be utilized to make cheaper …