Coin News

In terms of price, there’s not much to say, except it has been a boring week. Opinions seem to be quite divided, although that is only natural as the market keeps moving side-ways. Boring as hell. What about technology? What’s new? In terms of new and exciting developments happening on the bitcoin community, there are

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Kristo Kaarmann, co-founder and CEO of TransferWise, a global money transfer service, has stated that cryptocurrencies are not sufficiently flexible for widespread adoption. Kaarmann shared his views on cryptocurrency with Arjun Kharpal of CNBC during the Money 2020 conference in Amsterdam, adding that it would be exciting if people eventually use cryptocurrencies to buy everyday goods.

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• Mike Novogratz poked a little fun at CNBC while speaking to rival Bloomberg about the crypto hype that marked the very beginning of 2018.
• "CNBC, not to pick on CNBC, but I think I can since I am here," Novogratz said. 
• He said a segment about buying Ripple's XRP epitomized the "peak nonsense" of the bitcoin mania that swept financial media and markets. 

Mike Novogratz, the famed hedge funder turned crypto-enthusiast, poked a little fun at a segment on financial news network CNBC when describing to rival Bloomberg News the crypto hype that marked the very start of 2018. 

"CNBC, not to pick on CNBC, but I think I can since I am here, they literally had a show where they were one by one walking people through how to buy the Ripple, the XRP coin, literally when it was trading at $3.20 having moved from $0.20 8 weeks earlier," Novogratz said speaking to Bloomberg's Erik Schatzker.

Novogratz said that was "peak nonsense."

Ripple's XRP, a bitcoin rival, was technically trading above $2.57 when CNBC broke down how to buy it on exchange operator Poloniex on January 5. Still, the crypto market was red-hot then, with the entire market racing towards an all-time high market capitalization above $830 billion, according to CoinMarketCap. XRP ultimately fell to $0.49 on April 5. 

To be sure, many publications created walk-throughs for readers and viewers on how to purchase crypto-assets during the run-up. Business Insider published "Ripple's XRP is the hot new cryptocurrency - here's how you buy it" in January when Ripple was trading at approximately $2 a token.

The second-half of 2017 also saw the rise of initial coin offerings, a quick way to raise funds using cryptocurrency. Many of these fundraisers were promoted by celebrities such as Paris Hilton and Floyd Mayweather. 

Novogratz said this phenomenon might be the reason regulators started to clamp down in 2018. But it is something Novogratz, who is building out a crypto merchant bank, thinks is a positive sign for the market. 

"So we are going to knock out some of the crap from the system," he said. "It is healthy."

Notably, the Securities and Exchange Commission hit a number of cryptocurrency company with subpoenas. It also recently promoted Valerie Szczepanik to lead its new cryptocurrency enforcement unit. The New York Attorney General's office earlier this year launched an inquiry into cryptocurrency exchanges.   

The question now hanging over the space is whether regulators will deem crypto assets as securities, which would require entities that facilitate crypto trading to subscribe to a whole range of regulations. 

"I bet dimes to donuts [regulators] will say 'ethereum probably was a security but it is not anymore,'" Novogratz said.

Novogratz said there are about 200 tokens in regulatory "no-man's land."

Jay Clayton, the head of the Securities and Exchange Commission, didn't provide additional clarity during an interview Wednesday with CNBC. 

"I’m not going to comment on specific crypto assets and whether they are a security or are not a security," Clayton told CNBC's Bob Pisani.

CNBC declined to comment. 

Join the conversation about this story »

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• Mike Novogratz poked a little fun at CNBC while speaking to rival Bloomberg about the crypto hype that marked the very beginning of 2018.
• "CNBC, not to pick on CNBC, but I think I can since I am here," Novogratz said. 
• He said a segment about buying Ripple's XRP epitomized the "peak nonsense" of the bitcoin mania that swept financial media and markets. 

Mike Novogratz, the famed hedge funder turned crypto-enthusiast, poked a little fun at a segment on financial news network CNBC when describing to rival Bloomberg News the crypto hype that marked the very start of 2018. 

"CNBC, not to pick on CNBC, but I think I can since I am here, they literally had a show where they were one by one walking people through how to buy the Ripple, the XRP coin, literally when it was trading at $3.20 having moved from $0.20 8 weeks earlier," Novogratz said speaking to Bloomberg's Erik Schatzker.

Novogratz said that was "peak nonsense."

Ripple's XRP, a bitcoin rival, was technically trading above $2.57 when CNBC broke down how to buy it on exchange operator Poloniex on January 5. Still, the crypto market was red-hot then, with the entire market racing towards an all-time high market capitalization above $830 billion, according to CoinMarketCap. XRP ultimately fell to $0.49 on April 5. 

To be sure, many publications created walk-throughs for readers and viewers on how to purchase crypto-assets during the run-up. Business Insider published "Ripple's XRP is the hot new cryptocurrency - here's how you buy it" in January when Ripple was trading at approximately $2 a token.

The second-half of 2017 also saw the rise of initial coin offerings, a quick way to raise funds using cryptocurrency. Many of these fundraisers were promoted by celebrities such as Paris Hilton and Floyd Mayweather. 

Novogratz said this phenomenon might be the reason regulators started to clamp down in 2018. But it is something Novogratz, who is building out a crypto merchant bank, thinks is a positive sign for the market. 

"So we are going to knock out some of the crap from the system," he said. "It is healthy."

Notably, the Securities and Exchange Commission hit a number of cryptocurrency company with subpoenas. It also recently promoted Valerie Szczepanik to lead its new cryptocurrency enforcement unit. The New York Attorney General's office earlier this year launched an inquiry into cryptocurrency exchanges.   

The question now hanging over the space is whether regulators will deem crypto assets as securities, which would require entities that facilitate crypto trading to subscribe to a whole range of regulations. 

"I bet dimes to donuts [regulators] will say 'ethereum probably was a security but it is not anymore,'" Novogratz said.

Novogratz said there are about 200 tokens in regulatory "no-man's land."

Jay Clayton, the head of the Securities and Exchange Commission, didn't provide additional clarity during an interview Wednesday with CNBC. 

"I’m not going to comment on specific crypto assets and whether they are a security or are not a security," Clayton told CNBC's Bob Pisani.

CNBC declined to comment. 

Join the conversation about this story »

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This article originally appeared on Bitcoin Magazine.

• Elizabeth White made a business out of trading in cryptocurrency holders' digital wealth in for luxury items like Lamborghinis, designer fashion, and yachts.
• Now, she's launching her own cryptocurrency, a "stable token" called the "White Standard."

For many in the cryptocurrency community, the hashtag #whenlambo signifies the Lamborghini as the embodiment of the aspirational wealth they someday hope to possess.

But for Elizabeth White, #whenlambo conveys a personal challenge.

When the hashtag started trending in cryptocurrency forums last year, White says she thought to herself, "You know what, I can get these people a Lambo."

Affluence may abound in the cryptocurrency community, but it isn't always easy to transform digital wealth in for real-world assets. Punishing transactional fees, low daily exchange limits on trading platforms, and wildly fluctuating values can make trading digital currencies in for fiat a difficult endeavor.

White, who has long worked in the racecar industry, decided to leverage her connections to hedge funds and luxury car dealerships to provide cryptocurrency holders access to the Italian supercar of their dreams. 

"There's so much new wealth in the cryptocurrency community," says White. "Cars seem to be a big seller because it establishes you as a cryptocurrency holder."

Typically, White's initial exchanges take place over the secure messaging app Telegram. White says she can facilitate a deal for a luxury car in exchange for cryptocurrencies in a matter of days. 

"We had a very large sale to a buyer in China from a seller in California for a $4 million car," says White. "The negotiation was very quick. It took less than a week and the settlement took about 30 minutes."

White says her company, suitably called "the White Company," can handle such fast-paced deals in a mix of fiat and digital currencies because of the liquidity of the hedge fund, Apis Capital Management, with which she works. 

"We're able to quickly convert someone's holdings at any moment," says White. "I can take these large amounts of money and purchase the items for my client, and then re-ingest their cryptocurrencies back into the fund." 

Among the transactions she's handled are deals for Super Bowl suites, yachts, honeymoons, luxury fashion items, and engagement rings. 

The ability to cash in digital assets for real-world goods is an important and validating function for cryptocurrencies, says White. 

"It all goes back to offering cryptocurrency holders something they need," she says. "They need the ability to purchase something in the real world with their digital wealth."

White's experience cashing in cryptocurrency assets for tangible goods has inspired her in an entirely new direction. Now, along with her finance partner Edgar Radjabli, she's launching her own cryptocurrency called "the White Standard" that she hopes will someday be used to handle the majority of online transactions.

Unlike ether and bitcoin, which have both been historically traded as a method of speculation, the "White Standard" is a "stable coin" — a digital token with the chief goal of serving as a means of digital commerce. White says that each White Standard, which are built on the blockchain application Stellar, will be backed by an American dollar, ensuring that the coins maintain a real-world value. 

"As they gain adoption, White Standards will be trade-able on other exchanges," says White's finance partner, Edgar Radjabli. "You'll always be able to trade ether and bitcoin in and out of the White Standard." 

Radjabli said that both he and White started considering the possibility of their own dollar-backed digital currency when rumors began swirling that Tether, another dollar-backed stable token, wasn't accurately representing the fiat backing for their coins.

The White Standard, which will be backed by Radjabli's hedge fund, plans on building a foundation of payment networks for cryptocurrency trade worldwide.

"We want to build a coin that will let you instantly buy a cup of coffee or a Lambo with cryptocurrencies anywhere in the world," says Radjabli. 

SEE ALSO: A 21-year-old college student invested 80% of his summer paycheck in cryptocurrencies and made an enormous profit

DON'T MISS: Meet 'The Wolf of Crypto Street,' an Ohio teenager who used his entire savings to become a cryptocurrency millionaire

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Fidelity, one of the biggest providers of 401(k) services and other retirement products to Americans, is plotting the build out of products that would push the market for bitcoin to the next level. Here's what you need to know.

Here are the current crypto prices:

In the news:

• A crypto trader setting up a hedge fund apologised for making so much money
• A man died while climbing Mount Everest in a cryptocurrency publicity stunt gone horribly wrong
• A secretive Chicago trading firm is planning to move bitcoin trading out of chat rooms and into the 21st century
• Crypto firm Circle has reportedly applied for a US banking licence 
• Binance, the world's largest crypto exchange, has reportedly set up a bank account in Malta 

SEE ALSO: CHANOS: 'The last thing I’d want to own is bitcoin if the grid goes down'

Join the conversation about this story »

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Welcome to Crypto Insider, Business Insider's roundup of all the bitcoin and cryptocurrency news you need to know today. Sign up here to get this email delivered direct to your inbox.

Fidelity, one of the biggest providers of 401(k) services and other retirement products to Americans, is plotting the build out of products that would push the market for bitcoin to the next level. Here's what you need to know.

Here are the current crypto prices:

In the news:

• A crypto trader setting up a hedge fund apologised for making so much money
• A man died while climbing Mount Everest in a cryptocurrency publicity stunt gone horribly wrong
• A secretive Chicago trading firm is planning to move bitcoin trading out of chat rooms and into the 21st century
• Crypto firm Circle has reportedly applied for a US banking licence 
• Binance, the world's largest crypto exchange, has reportedly set up a bank account in Malta 

SEE ALSO: CHANOS: 'The last thing I’d want to own is bitcoin if the grid goes down'

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: What humans will look like on Mars

The bitcoin price has increased from $7,300 to $7,600 over the past 24 hours, sparking optimism regarding the short-term growth of bitcoin. A break to $7,800 could confirm a short-term rally for bitcoin while a drop below the $7,500 mark could lead it back to the $7,300 region, making $6,000 a possibility, yet again. Low

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Welcome to Finance Insider, Business Insider's summary of the top stories of the past 24 hours. Sign up here to get the best of Business Insider delivered direct to your inbox.

Fidelity moves into bitcoin 

Fidelity, one of the biggest providers of 401K services and other retirement products to Americans, is plotting the buildout of products that would push the market for bitcoin to the next level.

The wealth firm, which oversees $2.4 trillion in assets, already allows certain clients to view their crypto holdings next to their other accounts in their Fidelity portfolio. And its chief executive officer Abigail Johnson is a noted proponent of bitcoin.

But Business Insider has learned Fidelity is looking for talent to build its own digital asset exchange, according to a job posting sent out to employees at the firm.

Morgan Stanley in Silicon Valley 

Morgan Stanley has boots on the ground this week to meet with over 150 technology providers as part of its annual CTO Innovation Summit in Palo Alto, California.

The event solves a common pain point that both tech entrepreneurs and large firms face: they can't find each other.

More here. 

Deutsche shakeup continues 

Deutsche Bank has lost its two coheads of US leveraged finance as staff turnover mounts at the German lender.

Scott Sartorius and Christopher Blum and are leaving the bank, according to people familiar with the matter. Sartorius will become a managing director at Citi, where he worked earlier in his career, while Blum is expected to join a rival, the people said. Sartorius is taking paid time off, known on Wall Street as garden leave.

Crypto riches grow

Cryptocurrency traders have become well-known for conspicuous displays of wealth.

Rows of Lamborghinis were parked outside the recent Consensus conference in New York and some attendees blew off steam at after parties in exclusive clubs with champagne, vodka, and even drugs.

But not all crypto enthusiasts are so ostentatious. John Lore, a lawyer who has advised over 30 cryptocurrency hedge funds, said one trader who approached him about setting up a fund, in fact, apologized to him, embarrassed by his crypto riches.

More here. 

Mastercard adding voice payments 

Mastercard is planning to integrate payments into the Google Assistant and Amazon Alexa virtual voice assistants, according to CNBC. The integration will allow consumers to pay for things by talking to the voice assistants and paying through Masterpass, the firm's mobile wallet-buy button hybrid that saves payment and shipping information.

In markets news

• 'The danger is already here': The world's biggest hedge fund just told clients it's bearish on pretty much everything
• One overlooked indicator could hold the key to the future of the stock market
• MORGAN STANLEY: Investors are setting themselves up for disaster by stubbornly clinging to a trade that just blew up

Join the conversation about this story »

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This article originally appeared on Bitcoin Magazine.

VanEck and SolidX have teamed up to list a bitcoin exchange-traded fund, despite regulatory obstacles that stymied prior attempts.

Binance coin, the token launched by the world's largest cryptocurrency exchange, has hit an all-time high against bitcoin.

• Fidelity Investments, a firm that oversees $2.4 trillion in assets, is hiring to build a digital asset exchange, an internal job ad reviewed by Business Insider reveals. 
• The firm is also working on custody solutions for crypto, according to another job ad. 
• If Fidelity successfully launches these products, it would represent one of the biggest moves by a Wall Street firm into the market for digital assets.

Fidelity, one of the biggest providers of 401K services and other retirement products to Americans, is plotting the buildout of products that would push the market for bitcoin to the next level. 

The wealth firm, which oversees $2.4 trillion in assets, already allows certain clients to view their  crypto holdings next to their other accounts in their Fidelity portfolio. And its chief executive officer Abigail Johnson is a noted proponent of bitcoin.

But Business Insider has learned Fidelity is looking for talent to build its own digital asset exchange, according to a job posting sent out to employees at the firm. 

Specifically, the firm is looking for a DevOps System Engineer "to help engineer, create and deploy a Digital Asset exchange to both a public and private cloud."

People with knowledge of Fidelity's crypto ambitions told Business Insider the firm has been working on an offering that would allow clients to buy and sell certain digital assets for about a year. 

If Fidelity does go through with launching a crypto exchange offering, it would arguably be among the biggest moves by a large Wall Street firm into the nascent crypto market, which stands at around $350 billion.

It would also pit Fidelity against a number of established crypto players, such as Coinbase, Kraken, and Bitfinex. To be sure, it's not exactly clear from the job ad whether the exchange would exist alongside Fidelity's other offerings on its site. 

Such an offering could help legitimize the burgeoning crypto market, said market structure specialist Dave Weisberger. 

"Fidelity’s reputation for achieving best execution for their retail clients should help legitimize the asset class," Weisberger said. 

A spokeswoman declined to comment on Fidelity's crypto ambitions. 

Other established Wall Street players are also weighing their own moves into crypto. Goldman Sachs has a team dedicated to building out a trading operation tied to crypto and the New York Stock Exchange is reportedly building a crypto trading platform. 

Yet other banks are remaining cautious. Regulatory and security risks are commonly cited as reasons bitcoin hasn't been adopted more broadly yet. 

About a third of all crypto trading platforms have been hacked, according to a report by JPMorgan. The entrant of a player like Fidelity into the space could lure in retail investors into the market weary of trading on existing platforms. 

Fidelity is also looking to hire staff to develop "first-in-class custodian services for Bitcoin and other digital currencies," according to another internal job ad. 

The position falls under the firm's crypto division, the Fidelity Digital Asset Service unit. It is not clear if Fidelity has cleared the regulatory hurdles to operate a qualified custodian product aimed at institutions, of which there are only a handful operating in the crypto space. 

On Wall Street, custody banks such as State Street and BNYMellon safeguard large amounts of wealth for other institutions while abiding by strict regulatory requirements. 

Some entities offer such solutions in crypto. But they are small firms and their names don't carry the same weight as a Fidelity. BitGo, another crypto tech provider, is working on a qualified custodian product. Paxos, a New York-based firm, holds a trust company charter in New York. 

Crypto exchange Coinbase has its own custody product, Coinbase Custody, which is aimed at institutional Wall Street firms and went live earlier this year. 

Weisberger said the move by Fidelity would make a lot of sense strategically.  

"They have many of the components already: a significant retail footprint across the spectrum of active to less active traders, a prime brokerage area that knows how to account for custody of assets, they operate an ATS already (called “CrossStream”), and have a reputation for excellence and risk control in their product offerings," he said. 

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This article originally appeared on Bitcoin Magazine.

Three years after Ripple shelved Codius, Stefan Thomas is bringing the smart contract platform back to life with his eyes set on disrupting Ethereum.

Still in bearish territory, bitcoin need to clear resistance at $7,780 in order to regain a bullish bias.

The world’s most valuable banknote is barely worth one bitcoin, according to a report published by Quartz. The banknote in question belongs to Brunei, one of the most centralized countries in the world, and has one of the richest men alive printed on it. Brunei’s B$10,000 bill is worth, at press time, roughly $7,584. Bitcoin,

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• Lawyer John Lore advises hedge funds and has seen a spike in specialist crypto funds asking for help.
• He said the background of his crypto clients is much more diverse than traditional fund managers. Some people approaching him about setting up funds are amateur traders who made it big.
• One would-be fund manager was so embarrassed by his new found wealth he apologised for turning $600,000 into $8 million.

LONDON — Cryptocurrency traders have become well-known for conspicuous displays of wealth.

Rows of Lamborghinis were parked outside the recent Consensus conference in New York and some attendees blew off steam at after parties in exclusive clubs with champagne, vodka, and even drugs.

But not all crypto enthusiasts are so ostentatious. John Lore, a lawyer who has advised over 30 cryptocurrency hedge funds, said one trader who approached him about setting up a fund, in fact, apologised to him, embarrassed by his crypto riches.

"Some of them make me feel bad about my own net worth and what I’ve done with my life," Lore told BI. "I even had a fund manager apologise for making so much money and said he’d donate a lot to charity.

"They’d put in approximately $600,000 and they, in January, were sitting at over $8 million. My son took one look at that and decided he’s going to be a cryptocurrency manager."

Lore is the founder of Capital Fund Law Group, a New York firm that specialises in advising hedge funds and asset managers. Lore told BI he has seen a huge spike in the number of inquiries from people looking to set up cryptocurrency hedge funds.

"There’s a lot of demand but I think right now there’s a lot of need for education," Lore said. "Never has there been a more diverse group of potential managers come to us. These aren’t just all former buy-side analysts at investment banks, they’re coming from all different aspects."

Bitcoin rose over 1,000% against the dollar in 2017, while other cryptocurrencies booked similarly staggering gains. Lore said that this huge rally has created overnight wealth for even casual bitcoin enthusiasts, many of whom now believe they can replicate this success in fund management.

"I would say right now most fund managers are not looking to necessarily grow a large fund, they’re looking to grow a track record," Lore said. "In 2017, the market’s the track record — anyone who’s in is doing great. No one would form a cryptocurrency fund without absolutely fantastic performance returns."

Bitcoin has slumped from a high of $20,000 in December to around $7,500 and the wider cryptocurrency market has followed a broadly similar trajectory. Lore said funds he advises are still seeing strong returns despite the market slump.

"There are funds in 2018 that have consistently had very high returns, often from this quantitative strategy," he said. "We have other funds that are poised now to do more long-term investing. But performance has not been the issue for most emerging fund managers."

SEE ALSO: A top crypto hedge fund lawyer explains the 4 main trading strategies that funds use to make money

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Brad Garlinghouse of Ripple told CNBC on Tuesday that Bitcoin will not be the catch-all solution people are hoping for in terms of being a global currency. “I think it’s not going to be the panacea that people once thought it would be, where it would solve all of these different kinds of problems,” Garlinghouse

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Brad Garlinghouse of Ripple told CNBC on Tuesday that Bitcoin will not be the catch-all solution people are hoping for in terms of being a global currency. “I think it’s not going to be the panacea that people once thought it would be, where it would solve all of these different kinds of problems,” Garlinghouse

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Howard Schultz, the anti-bitcoin, pro-digital currency executive chairman of Starbucks, recently confirmed his intention to leave his role at Starbucks and is said to be considering getting into politics, according to CNBC. Schultz has denied in the past that he is planning to run for president, but he has been active over the years in

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