Another week, another round of Crypto Tidbits. Wow, the past seven days have been quite the trip for Bitcoin, to say the least. After peaking at $10,500 last week, the price of the leading cryptocurrency plunged to $9,700, bounced to $10,300, then took a few hours to crash from that level to $9,250, liquidating hundreds of millions worth of leveraged positions in the process.
The weekly data has echoed Bitcoin’s questionable performance. Per data from Coin360, BTC is down 2.6% in the past week. Altcoins, however, (save for Ethereum and Litecoin and a few other projects) have fared even worse: for instance, the two leading Bitcoin forks are down over 10% apiece and XRP has shed 10%.
Aside from the tumultuous market, the underlying cryptocurrency industry saw a relatively productive week, with there being a number of news stories showing the growth and adoption of these technologies, though others casting light on issues in crypto.
Related Reading: Crypto Tidbits: Bitcoin Slides Under $10,000, JP Morgan & Ethereum, and the US’ Cryptocurrency Crackdown
Bitcoin & Crypto Tidbits
- Coronavirus May Push China to Launch Crypto, Says Ex-Banking Official: Per an article from China Daily — a newspaper owned by the Publicity Department of the Communist Party of China — Lihui Li, a former president of the Bank of China, said that the coronavirus epidemic unfolding will likely accelerate a national digital currency or national crypto. Li purportedly added that a digital currency from the PBOC is likely to benefit retail businesses by decreasing costs and increasing the efficiency of transactions. This was echoed by Fan Yifei, deputy governor of the People’s Bank of China. He said at a news conference held on Saturday that the central bank is going to accelerate its work in the mobile payment field. Bitcoin was not mentioned by these authorities.
- Bitcoin Fixes This: Danish Bank Introduces Negative Interest Rate: Bitwise’s Hunter Horsley recently shared the below image, showing that clients of Danish investment bank Saxo Bank will soon be subject to negative interest rates. All clients holding cash in EUR, CHF, or DKK will be subject to an annual rate of 0% to -3%. This means that if you’re in the worst bracket of -3%, a $10,000 deposit will see you lose $300. Saxo Bank, backing this decision, cited the European Central Bank’s decision to lower its policy deposit rate to -0.5% to stimulate the economy. Many see Bitcoin as an alternative to cash accounts because some suggest it has store-of-value properties, offering no yield but being a disinflationary asset whose value is mainly derived from scarcity.
Saxo Bank sending an email informing the client they will start *charging* to hold cash in deposit accounts.
0-3% fee to hold cash.
What a time to be alive — pic.twitter.com/JC4vTia3XQ
— Hunter Horsley (@HHorsley) February 21, 2020
- Coinbase Becomes Visa Principal Member: Announced in a blog post published Wednesday, Coinbase has become the ” first pure-play crypto