Crypto Recap March 14: Market Hit by Selling Wave, Google to Ban Crypto Ads

Market Summary

Renewed selling pressure kicked in on Wednesday. Bitcoin is down towards the $8k level with the rest of the Alts complex portraying a similarly depressing picture. Top cryptos by market cap fell to the tune of 10-15%, erasing another $40-45 billion in market capitalization as the total value of assets is in-route to test Feb 6 low sub $300 billion, which is the next psychological level to watch. The Bitcoin dominance printed fresh marginal highs at 42%, strengthening the BTC market dynamics witnessed.

The Wall Street Journal confirmed on Wednesday that Google is following Facebook's steps to ban ads for cryptocurrencies, effective in June. As a result, the market sold-off hastily. However, if one is to interpret this news as fundamentally negative for the crypto space, think again. These decisions have an immediate psychological impact on people's perspective, which led them to think the crypto industry will face a harder time gaining wider adoption. However, such actions are in line with other efforts made to regulate a very opaque space and along the way, increase the perception of consumers' protection. A more sound and transparent environment is what's needed for institutional investors to feel comfortable funning tonnes of capital into such an innovative and disruptive industry.

The reality is that Facebook or Google banning crypto ads, the acquisition of Poloniex by Goldman-backed Circle, subpoenas sent to several ICOs by the SEC, the introduction of BTC futures by the CME/CBOE, new self-regulating bodies emerging (the last being Virtual Commodity Association by the Co-founders of Gemini) or institutional-level liquidity aggregators such as Liquid coming up, and many more developments, are a clear reflection of the professionalism the crypto market will evolve into.

Besides, what's happening behind closed doors, while not noticeable in the barrage of noisy daily headlines, cannot be sufficiently overstated how important it is. In the first 2 months of 2018 alone, more than $1 billion has been committed to blockchain development ICOs. Long-term legitimate Venture Capital firms are getting involved at a pace not seen before. This is the type of smart money one wants to follow. Note, the majority saw the crypto train leave the station without them on board, and they have certainly taken notice not to miss the opportunity again when it comes again.

Back to the most recent action, there were a handful of noticeable news on Wednesday. Zeeshan Feroz, Coinbase's head of the UK division, announced that they have been granted an e-money license. The news will help the exchange gain more recognition in the European market.

Meanwhile, later in the US, the highly-anticipated US Congress hearing entitled "Examining Cryptocurrencies and ICO Markets" took place as more studies are carried out to regulate digital currencies. The main takeaway from Mike Lempres's intervention, Chief Legal and Risk Officer at Coinbase, was when said: "We believe there is no need for Congress to create a new regulator or a new regulatory scheme because federal regulators already have sufficient authority to regulate this space effectively", further adding that a new regulatory scheme may damage the benefits of cryptocurrencies.

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* Headlines below are listed in chronological order, as seen in CoinLive News Terminal

Top Headlines Industry / Regulations

• Winklevoss Twins Create a Self-Regulatory Group - Virtual Commodity Association - Co-founders of Gemini plan to create the Virtual Commodity Association.
• Google to Ban Ads for Cryptocurrencies Effective in June - WSJ - The Wall Street Journal is confirming that Google is following Facebook's decision on Jan 30 to ban ads for cryptocurrencies.
• G20 Aims for Standard-Setting Bodies to Strengthen Monitoring of Cryptos - G20 finance ministers will raise issues related to tax evasion, money laundering, and terrorist financing using cryptocurrencies.
• Riksbank: Bitcoin and Cryptocurrencies Cannot Be Classified as Money - According to a report by the Swedish Central Bank, cryptocurrencies cannot be considered money but rather some form of asset.
• Dutch FinMin Suggests 4-Part Approach to Cryptocurrency Risk Control - Dutch Finance Minister Wopke Hoekstra suggested a 4-part approach to cryptocurrency risk control in a letter to the Parliament.
• Coinbase Receives e-Money License from UK’s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) - Zeeshan Feroz, Coinbase's head of the UK division, has announced that they have been granted an e-money license.
• Coinbase Publishes Written Testimony to Be Presented at Committee Hearing - In the testimony, Coinbase argues that the existing law is appropriate to establish a regulatory framework.
• Prof. Brummer: Congress Needs to Expand SEC's Authority to Regulate Cryptos - Dr. Chris Brummer, a law professor at Georgetown University; testified before the Financial Services Committee.
• Coin Center's Van Valkenburgh: Scarce Tokens Are Effectively Digital Commodities - Peter Van Valkenburgh, research director for the non-profit advocacy group Coin Center, testified at Congress hearing.
• WSGR Partner Rosenblum: It Is Premature to Craft Legislation - Robert Rosenblum, a partner at Wilson Sonsini Goodrich and Rosati, testified before the Financial Services Committee.
• Wall Street Shows More Interest in Crypto Space Each Passing Day - The latest issue of Diar Weekly highlighted the rising interest from Wall Street investors in the crypto space.
• Filipino Senator Wants to Impose Stiffer Penalties for Crimes Involving Cryptos - Senator Leila M. de Lima has filed a measure seeking to impose stiffer penalties for crimes involving cryptocurrencies.
• SEC to Scrutinize Hedge Funds Investing in Cryptos - The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission is investigating hedge funds focused on cryptocurrencies and ICOs in order to protect outside investors.

Top Headlines Crypto-Asset Fundamentals

• Cindicator: Weekly Updates - The team at Cindicator has just released their latest updates, detailing their progress and development.
• VeChain: Interview with COO, Kevin Feng - Kevin Feng, the COO of VeChain was in an interview with Boxmining on YouTube, where they discuss all the latest proceedings of VeChain Thor and X Nodes.
• IOHK: Dr Peter Gazi Presents the Ouroboros Protocol - Dr Peter Gazi, a highly accomplished Fellow Researcher at IOHK presented the Ouroboros protocol at MIT.
• WAX Team Announces Project Update 1 - The Worldwide Asset eXchange's (WAX) latest project update highlights the summary of the timeline of the project from Dec 2017 until Mar 2018.
• Survey: 80% of Companies Eager to Use BTC Transactions - A recently conducted survey shows that 80% of companies are eager to use BTC to save on transaction costs.
• Digital2GO Media Networks raises $1M USD from the NEM Blockchain Community Fund - Through the NEM network, D2GO has managed to raise over 1.8 million XEM, or about $1 million USD.
• PIVX Core Wallet v3.1.0 Will Be Released 31st March - PIVX announced that their core wallet v3.1.0 will be released on 31st March.
• Square Looking to Bring Bitcoin Buying to NY - Square, the digital payments company, is applying for a BitLicense in order to extend their Cash App's bitcoin buying option to New York.
• Ripple CEO Garlinghouse: Bitcoin Is Napster of Digital Assets - Ripple's CEO Brad Garlinghouse shared his views about the future of cryptocurrencies in an interview with Bloomberg TV.
• Washington Post Becomes Verified Brave Publisher - Reddit community has revealed that The Washington post is now a verified publisher with Brave/BAT.
• Bitwage and Uphold in Partnership with Dash to Offer Payroll Solution - Bitwage has announced a new partnership with Uphold and Dash to allow employers to pay salaries in DASH.

Key Events on Top Cryptos for Mar 15 (Thu)

• Aion (AION) - Meetup in New York
• Aion (AION) - Public Testnet Available
• Aion (AION) - Wallet + Explorer
• Ambrosus (AMB) - START Summit in St. Gallen
• Arcblock (ABT) - Huobi Talk Episode 23 on YouTube
• Ark (ARK) - Token Fest in San Francisco
• BlockMason Credit Protocol (BCPT) - Token Fest in San Francisco
• Blocknet (BLOCK) - White Paper Release
• Bluzelle (BLZ) - Telegram Live Interaction
• Burst (BURST) - Hard Fork
• Cardano (ADA) - Token Fest in San Francisco
• Credits (CS) - 4th Annual Block Chain Finance & Fin-tech China 2018 Conference in Shanghai
• Cryptocurrencies (CRYPTO) - Action Coin Airdrop
• Decred (DCR) - Meetup in New York
• ETHLend (LEND) - Token Fest in San Francisco
• Fusion (FSN) - Design Contest Submission Deadline
• High Performance Blockchain (HPB) - TokenSky Blockchain Conference in Seoul
• ICON (ICX) - Meetup in Sydney
• IOStoken (IOST) - Opening Codes to Public
• MediBloc (MED) - AMA with CEO
• Metal (MTL) - Token Fest in San Francisco
• Monero (XMR) - Meetup in New York
• Po.et (POE) - Token Fest in San Francisco
• Polymath (POLY) - Token Fest in San Francisco
• Qtum (QTUM) - Meetup in San Francisco
• Stellar (XLM) - Stellar Build Challenge Submission Deadline
• Telcoin (TEL) - Q&A on Twitter
• Waves (WAVES) - Tradingene Q&A session

source: www.coinmarketcal.com

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