July 25, 2019
The last time I wrote was on the eve of Facebook’s cryptocurrency Libra announcement. At this time tomorrow, the US Congress will have held its first hearing on the matter. It’s been quite an active few weeks – Bitcoin reached Read more…
June 17, 2019
The big news heading out of last week and into the upcoming week is Facebook’s long-awaited GlobalCoin (or Libra Coin), likely to be a stablecoin pegged to a basket of global currencies. Details of its initial consortium leaked late last Read more…
May 13, 2019
Greetings from the very beginning of NYC Blockchain Week. This is where it all started just two years ago, when ETH and BTC prices began their meteoric rise in 2017, soon to be followed by the ICO boom and bust. Read more…
December 2, 2018
As much of the crypto world descended upon Manhattan for Consensus:Invest this past week, it was a different atmosphere than a year ago, when bitcoin was on its way to $20,000. Many cryptos were down 90% from all-time highs, with Read more…
October 16, 2018
A few weeks ago, I wrote about the proliferation of stablecoins, crytpocurrencies using different mechanisms to maintain a stable value versus a specific price (most often US$). The goal is to reduce volatility when utilizing decentralized applications. Many exchanges have Read more…
August 31, 2018
The pace of news announcements over the last week shows the blockchain sector hasn’t received the August doldrums memo. Overall crypto markets improved, with Bitcoin hovering near $7000. Many other cryptocurrencies have seen more modest recoveries. NEO, often touted as Read more…
August 22, 2018
Last week in NYC I shared a panel with Valerie Szczepanik, SEC’s “crypto czar”. We had a wide-ranging discussion on self-regulation, utility tokens, the SEC’s role in protecting investors, and accredited investor definitions. While the conversation was under Chatham House Rules Read more…
Last week I wrote about how geopolitics can impact demand for public blockchain cryptocurrencies such as bitcoin. Cryptocurrency can serve as a (relatively) stable store of value when local currencies are devalued or taken out of circulation – most recently Read more…
August 14, 2018
Financial headlines over the past week focused on Turkey’s rapidly depreciating lira. Meanwhile many citizens there, ignoring President Erdogan’s calls to exchange gold and foreign currencies to local currency, tapped into the crypto market: s “Bunyamin Yavuz, a cardiologist in Read more…
August 3, 2018
The big news this morning is that Intercontinental Exchange, parent of the New York Stock Exchange, announced the formation of a new company, Bakkt, a global platform to allow consumers and institutions to buy, hold and store digital assets. Its Read more…