Replies to post #54034 on DNA Brands Inc (DNAX)

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here's the skinny

https://www.cnbc.com/2018/02/05/bitcoin-drops-more-than-14-percent-to-below-7000.html

Bitcoin continues to tumble, briefly breaking below $6,000
The digital currency briefly falls below $6,000 to its lowest since mid-November, according to CoinDesk.
The decline follows reports in the last week that have raised worries about increased regulation and potential price manipulation at a major cryptocurrency exchange.
The heads of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and Commodity Futures Trading Commission are also set to testify before the Senate Banking Committee on Tuesday.
Evelyn Cheng | @chengevelyn
Published 12 Hours Ago Updated 47 Mins Ago
CNBC.com

Bitcoin dropped to its lowest in more than two months.
The digital currency fell to a low of $5,995.58, its lowest since mid November, according to CoinDesk, whose bitcoin price index tracks prices from four major exchanges.
At a price of $6,115.46 at 2:44 p.m. HK/SIN, the cryptocurrency was down more than 11.5 percent on the day, according to CoinDesk. The site measures bitcoin based on Coordinated Universal Time — currently the same time zone as the U.K.

With that decline, bitcoin has now lost more than 50 percent for the year so far.
Bitcoin 12-month performance

Source: CoinDesk
The latest sell-off follows reports in the last week that have raised worries about increased regulation, hackers and potential price manipulation at a major cryptocurrency exchange. On Friday, J.P. Morgan Chase, Bank of America and Citigroup also said they have decided to ban cryptocurrency purchases by their credit card customers.
A report from China's Financial News on Sunday said authorities will increase efforts to restrict virtual currency trading platforms, especially those that may have moved overseas following Beijing's ban on initial coin offerings in September. The South China Morning Post first highlighted the report.
The heads of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and Commodity Futures Trading Commission are also set to testify before the Senate Banking Committee on Tuesday.
In prepared remarks, SEC Chairman Jay Clayton said investors should remain cautious about investing in cryptocurrencies and gave an overview of the commission's efforts so far.
Bitcoin remains several hundred percent higher over the last 12 months, while ethereum and ripple are several thousands of percent higher.


Evelyn Cheng
Writer

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[Rocketstockpix]

gets even better

Behind the latest bitcoin plunge: A credit card ban and increased scrutiny from regulators
Bitcoin's rapid tumble from December records comes amid a slew of negative news for the the cryptocurrency world.
J.P. Morgan Chase, Bank of America and Citigroup said Friday they decided not to allow customers to buy cryptocurrencies with the companies' credit cards.
Reports last week increased worries about potential price manipulation at one of the largest cryptocurrency exchanges in the world, while regulators around the world are stepping up their efforts to limit speculation.
Evelyn Cheng | @chengevelyn
Published 15 Hours Ago Updated 11 Hours Ago
CNBC.com


















Bitcoin down 65% from highs in mid-December
10 Hours Ago | 01:01
Bitcoin's rapid tumble from December records comes amid a slew of negative headlines pushing back against cryptocurrencies' advancement into established financial markets.
In the latest blow, J.P. Morgan Chase, Bank of America and Citigroup said Friday that they decided not to allow customers to buy cryptocurrencies with the companies' credit cards.
That followed reports last week that increased worries about potential price manipulation at Bitfinex, one of the largest cryptocurrency exchanges in the world. The Commodity Futures Trading Commission on Dec. 6 subpoenaed Bitfinex and a digital coin company called Tether, run by many of the same people as the exchange, Bloomberg reported, citing a source. The New York Times said Wednesday that a person familiar with the matter also affirmed the report. The CFTC declined to comment to CNBC. A representative for Bitfinex and Tether had no further comment.




Bitcoin is in free fall - here's why
5:26 PM ET Fri, 2 Feb 2018 | 00:43
Bitcoin dropped more than 10 percent to $7,334.93 on Monday morning, according to CoinDesk's bitcoin price index, which tracks prices from exchanges Bitstamp, Coinbase, itBit and Bitfinex. That marked bitcoin's lowest since mid-November.
Bitcoin 12-month performance

Source: CoinDesk
On Tuesday, Facebook also banned ads for cryptocurrencies.
Meanwhile, worries about a regulatory crackdown are growing. The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has stepped up its efforts to halt cryptocurrency-related fraud, while authorities in South Korea have banned anonymous trading accounts in an effort to limit speculation. Japanese regulators are inspecting local cryptocurrency exchanges after Coincheck lost the equivalent of more than $500 million in digital currency to hackers in January.
The heads of the SEC and CFTC are set to testify before the Senate Banking Committee on Tuesday.
In India, the country's minister of finance, Arun Jaitley, said in a speech Thursday that the government "does not consider cryptocurrencies legal tender or coin and will take all measures to eliminate use of these cryptoassets in financing illegitimate activities or as part of the payment system," according to a transcript from the daily newspaper The Hindu.
"Short term regulatory scrutiny may be a set-back to crypto prices, but long term professional investors need better regulation and more clear guidance regarding the crypto space," Gabor Gurbacs, director, digital assets strategy at VanEck, said. "The more regulators understand the markets, the higher the probability for regulated products, such as ETFs."
The cryptocurrency had skyrocketed 2,000 percent to above $19,000 in just 12 months, fueled by a surge of investor interest and speculation of increased participation from institutions. The peak came just as CME, the world's largest futures exchange, launched bitcoin futures. Its competitor Cboe launched its own product a week earlier.
Many digital currency enthusiasts expected that the launch of futures by the two major exchanges would pave the way for a bitcoin exchange-traded fund, which would likely bring even more institutional funds into cryptocurrencies.
However, after a race to file for a bitcoin ETF in late December, many of the companies withdrew their applications in early January. The SEC cited concerns about liquidity, volatility and investor protection.
Ryan Schoen, senior financial services policy analyst at research firm Washington Analysis, said he thought six months ago that a bitcoin futures-based ETF would likely launch in the first quarter of 2018.
Now, "if you've got regulators that are concerned about Bitfinex, market manipulation, you could say goodbye" to that idea, he said.
As for retail investor participation, Square did announce last week that is allowing most customers to buy and sell bitcoin using its Cash payments app. Stock trading app Robinhood is also rolling out bitcoin and ethereum trading this month for customers in five states.
But the ban on purchases from major credit card companies will make it more difficult to buy bitcoin.
WATCH: Bitcoin could be the biggest bubble in history – here's how




Bitcoin could be the biggest bubble in history – here's how
7:26 AM ET Wed, 17 Jan 2018 | 02:00



Evelyn Cheng
Writer

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https://www.cnbc.com/2018/02/05/credit-card-ban-regulator-scrutiny-latest-challenges-for-bitcoin.html

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oh boy

Congress is set to hold what may be the most consequential hearing in years on the subject of cryptocurrency, with the heads of the two main U.S. financial market regulators in the hot seat.
J. Christopher Giancarlo, chairman of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, and Jay Clayton, his counterpart at the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), will testify on Capitol Hill tomorrow. And the process of fielding questions from the Senate Banking Committee is likely to yield one or two notable moments given recent developments in the space – including those involving the agencies themselves.
In recent months, the two agencies have, between them, filed lawsuits against alleged scams, launch investigations, overseen the launch of bitcoin futures, issue warnings to investors and, perhaps more broadly, come to terms with a rapidly-evolving environment that has, in the words of their leaders, tested the limits of their reach.
Ahead of the hearing, copies of both Clayton's and Giancarlo's testimony have been released. While largely an overview of their respective agencies' work to date, both leaders suggested that they would support, in some way, new avenues of regulation that could lead to an expansion of oversight by the U.S. government into the cryptocurrency market.


Yet such an undertaking would, in their view, require an act of Congress – as well as close involvement with the relevant agencies.
Clayton commented in his written remarks that he is "open" to working with U.S. lawmakers, in addition to state regulators, on the question of new rules for trading sites.
He remarked:
"As Chairman Giancarlo and I stated recently, we are open to exploring with Congress, as well as with our federal and state colleagues, whether increased federal regulation of cryptocurrency trading platforms is necessary or appropriate. We also are supportive of regulatory and policy efforts to bring clarity and fairness to this space."
Giancarlo's nudging toward possible changes was slightly more detailed, highlighting what he called "shortcomings' in the system by which each state issues money transmission licenses to businesses.
"As the Senate Banking Committee, the Senate Agriculture Committee and other Congressional policy-makers consider the current state of regulatory oversight of cash or 'spot' transactions in virtual currencies and trading platforms, consideration should be given to shortcomings of the current approach of state-by-state money transmitter licensure that leaves gaps in protection for virtual currency traders and investors," he wrote.
Potential new rules governing cryptocurrency exchanges should, he went on to explain, "be carefully tailored to the risks posed by relevant trading activity and enhancing efforts to prosecute fraud and manipulation."
"Overall, a rationalized federal framework may be more effective and efficient in ensuring the integrity of the underlying market," he went on to write.
Fireworks ahead?
What kind of event can industry-watchers expect?
The written testimony only offers a piece of what might be raised during the question-and-answer phase of the hearing. Given the significant public interest in the topic – as well as a soundbite-heavy political environment – it’s tough to what could come up.
According to Jerry Brito, executive director of the non-profit advocacy group Coin Center, two of the prevailing news narratives of the past year – initial coin offerings (ICOs) and derivatives products like futures – are likely to dominate the discussion.
"There's been a frenzy of ICOs," Brito noted, including "a lot of crazy scams and weird stuff" alongside serious projects and significant money invested. "This is what sparked the hearing," he added.
Brito said that Coin Center has met individually with staff of more than half a dozen committee members and participated in a group briefing Friday for staff of all committee members. The room was packed, he said.
Token talk
Another issue that may come up in the hearing is the regulatory treatment of token sales, particularly when the token being sold to raise funds for a project is supposed to be useful on the network that will eventually be built.
Lewis Cohen, a partner at the law firm of Hogan Lovells in New York, said he agreed with Clayton’s comment in the prepared remarks that ICOs should be regulated as securities when they emphasize the potential for investor profits (for example, from selling tokens in the secondary market). Just because the tokens may have utility does not exempt the offering from investor protections.
But likewise, he said, the regulatory community needs to be careful not to assume that just because a token is the object of an investment scheme that it is necessarily a security itself.
It would "make little sense," Cohen said, if once a functional network like Filecoin is fully up and running its users had to go to a broker-dealer to buy tokens to store data in a decentralized manner on the platform.
Nikhilesh De and Marc Hochstein contributed reporting.
Image Credit: Katherine Welles / Shutterstock.com


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https://www.coindesk.com/cftc-sec-chairs-strike-open-tone-on-new-crypto-exchange-rules/