Regulatory Crypto Warming, Crypto Scams Shake YouTube, PayPal Making Crypto Mainstream, $7 Billion Crypto Surge
In this edition:
– Waters Warming for Crypto Adoption
– After Twitter, Crypto Scams Shake YouTube
– PayPal Moving Forward – Making Crypto Trading Mainstream
– $7 Billion Crypto Surge – Pump or Hype?
Welcome one and all to the 50th edition of our Crypto Roundup, and yet another collection of news that has marked this week in crypto.
The winds have been kind, and the crypto seas allowed the industry to fare well this week. And while BTC’s and ETH’s prices are making hodlers jump for joy, traditional institutions and major platforms are showing more interest in crypto currencies, making incumbent companies sweat.
We believe these are all good signs – after all, it’s good when there’s more fish in the sea, isn’t it?
So, without further spoilers, let’s dive into this week’s most relevant crypto-related news.
Waters Warming for Crypto Adoption
Two for the price of one. In the same week, we get US regulator to greenlight bank crypto custody, and the PM of India to back blockchain as “Frontier Tech”.
So, let’s discuss US first. The tender relationship between banks and cryptocurrencies in the US has seen numerous complications over the years, but it seems that they are finally finding a common language. The letter from the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) can bring forth a significant, and positive change. Namely, the OCC letter explains that national banks have the authority to provide fiat bank accounts as well as crypto custodial services to cryptocurrency businesses. As these news started echoing around the crypto industry, BTC price surged 5% and ETH 12% in response. Thanks to the new policy of OCC, national banks can now enter the game, thus allowing more traditional, accredited, institutional investors to enter crypto, and expanding the competition for these services.
In addition to these good news, Indian PM Narendra Modi has publicly said that blockchain is an “opportunity in frontier technology” thus giving the entire industry a positive push in his country. Furthermore, as India has always been a fertile ground for investment and quality workforce outsourcing, this statement will not just encourage citizens of this country, but also serve to open doors for multinational investors and blockchain startups.
This sounds like another step in the direction of wide adoption, as well as a good move towards repairing India’s troubled economy.
It isn’t over yet – After Twitter, Crypto Scams Shake YouTube
As if the last week’s Twitter Crypto Scam wasn’t enough, this week has brought up another major platform’s scam issues.
Namely, computer security researchers started looking deeper into the Twitter hack, and unearthed that a similar issue existed on YouTube, and that scams on these two platforms seemed coordinated.
While the Twitter scammers used CryptoForHealth site, the YouTube ones usd btc-gemini.info which looks almost identical. Futhermore, these sites share IP addresses, technical details, as well as website code (according to Bloomberg data review).
And while Twitter has yet to see the legal consequences of the hole in their security layer, YouTube is already being sued. Steve Wozniak (Apple Inc. co-founder) along with another 17 fraud victims filed a lawsuit this week, alleging that scammers have used his name and likenes for months for a fake BTC giveaway, and YouTube did nothing to stop them.
In June, a crypto giveaway scam hacked into three YouTube accounts to live stream an interview with Elon Musk (CEO of Tesla), next to fake information about the scam. The people behind this scam have managed to rake in over $150k.
It seems that major platforms are being under fire to either own up to their user’s malfeasance, or find a way to prevent it – either way, we believe this may lead to the use of blockchain-based solutions for security, as well as an issue awareness increase.
PayPal Moving Forward – Making Crypto Trading Mainstream
PayPal seems to have decided to take a leap in the right direction – a recently published letter describes this company’s intention to develop capacities in the crypto space. If this feature does see the light of day, it has the potential to give a massive boost to the crypto industry and make crypto trading more accessible than ever.
If PayPal does enter the crypto brokerage market, it will make things easier for vendors looking to accept crypto payments as well as more secure. Since this company has more than 300 million users from all over the world, this move can become a turning point for the crypto industry, as any one of those users will be able to gain exposure to cryptocurrencies.
In addition, we expect numerous crypto traders will find a way to benefit from this move, thus only increasing the popularity of the new feature.
Sounds like cheaper and faster access to cryptos is underway, and we are definitely looking forward to it.
$7 Billion Crypto Surge – Pump or Hype?
Literally overnight, the crypto market has seen a burst in interest, increasing total market capitalization from $277.3 billion to $284.5 billion.
LINK has gained 6.7% allowing it to recoup from losses that happened earlier this week.
This increase in demand allowed 19 of the top 20 cryptos to fair very well today. ETH has seen a rise from $245 to $268 in less than an hour.
MKR is also performing very well, with a day’s gain of 8.7%, due to a sudden interest uptick that allowed it to climb from a July 14 low of $441 to today’s $534.
And while the newest influx of interest and cash into the crypto market is making traders happy, it makes us wonder if it’s due to a new pump that will result in a dump within a few days or weeks, or is it an increase in demand due to a combination of COVID, positive regulation being adopted around the world, and people looking for the additional income they can generate from home?
Final Thoughts
Seems that governments and regulators around the globe are finally becoming consolidated when it comes to their viewpoint regarding cryptocurrencies and blockchain technology in general. Even better, their general stance seems to be leaning towards being positive, which means things can change when we share knowledge and improve our practices.
An increase of people working from their homes and looking for supplemental income seems to have brought crypto before more eyes than before, so we’re seeing a constant increase in total market capitalization, and crypto adoption.
There’s hope for us yet!
We are looking forward to seeing what comes next for the crypto community – how will CBDCs develop from this point forward, which new countries will show interest in this new and promising fintech endeavor, and how will this change our day-to-day lives? We’d also like to hear your thoughts on this topic, so share them with us here – Anchor’s Telegram Community
Until next week, I wish you fair winds and the following seas, my fellow Anchorians!
Disclaimer: The information provided in this post is not legal, accounting, or financial advice. I am not a lawyer, accountant, or financial advisor. I am not registered as an investment adviser with any federal or state regulatory agency. The Information should not be construed as investment or trading advice and is not meant to be a solicitation or recommendation to buy, sell, or hold any cryptocurrencies.
