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 19, 2018
I took a hiatus from the newsletter last week, while meeting with entrepreneurs and speaking at SXSW in Austin. Similar to what I saw (at the very different gathering) at Davos in January, much of the conference chatter revolved around 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…
July 6, 2018
As the United States celebrated its Independence Day on July 4th, several jurisdictions around the world, including South Korea, Bermuda and Malta, passed legislation to support crypto assets and virtual currencies. Of these, South Korea’s appears the most detailed by Read more…
June 13, 2018
I just wrapped up 2 days of speaking at MoneyConf in Dublin, an annual conference dedicated to all things fintech. In contrast to previous years, at least 50% of the programming involved blockchain technology. I shared the stage with two Read more…
June 4, 2018
Blockchain Week 2018 came in with a bang — 8500 attendees at the Consensus conference (vs 400 the last time I spoke there in 2015), thousands more at side events. The price of major cryptocurrencies saw a run up to Read more…
May 11, 2018
I am back in NYC after a trip around the world — with stops in London, Mumbai, Beijing, Korea, Los Angeles and Palo Alto along the way. I wrote about London and India observations in the last newsletter. A few Read more…