Another week, another round of Crypto Tidbits. The past seven days have been rather positive for Bitcoin and the rest of the cryptocurrency market, which was battered the week prior to the one that just transpired.
BTC rallied from $8,400 to $8,888 (as of the time of this article’s writing), tapping $9,200 on Saturday morning. Altcoins largely outperformed the market leader this week, with Ethereum gaining 9%, which was similar to the performances of Bitcoin Cash, Tezos, Link, Maker, and Algorand.
Aside from the market, the underlying cryptocurrency industry saw a tumultuous week, with there being a number of news stories showing the growth and adoption of these technologies, though others casting light on issues within this space.
Related Reading: Crypto Tidbits: Bitcoin Plunges Under $9,000, Bitfinex and OKEx DDOS Attacks, Warren Buffett Bashes Cryptocurrency Again
Bitcoin & Crypto Tidbits
- India’s Supreme Court Turns Over De-Facto Bitcoin Ban: In a ruling Wednesday, India’s Supreme Court reversed restrictions placed on banks by the Reserve Bank of India. This move allows banks to facilitate banking transactions with industry entities once again, “removing a major hurdle for the development of the sector,” as put by Reuters. Indeed, Bloomberg’s analysis of the Supreme Court’s move explained that Wednesday’s ruling means “virtual currency investors and businesses [can] push against stricter rules being planned by a skeptical government,” adding that any future regulations determined for India’s Bitcoin industry are likely to be less stringent now that the RBI ban is no longer.
- Bank of England’s Incoming Governor Trashses Bitcoin In Parliament Session: During a recent meeting of the Treasury Select Committee, Andrew Bailey — the former deputy governor of the Bank of England that is soon to be the governor of the central bank — openly lambasted cryptocurrencies. In the meeting, he said that Bitcoin remains a highly speculative and volatile investment that may result in investors losing “all [their] money”:
If you want to want to buy Bitcoin, be prepared to lose all your money. If you want to buy it, fine, but understand that what you’ve got has no intrinsic value. It might have extrinsic value, but no intrinsic value.
- Mike Bloomberg, Who Wanted to Regulate Crypto More Fairly, Exits Presidential Race: On Tuesday, hundreds of thousands of registered Democrats flocked down to polling stations to cast their vote for who they think will be best suited to beat the Republican nominee late this year. After Vice-President Joe Biden and Senator Bernie Sanders swept the primaries, candidate Mike Bloomberg exited the race. This is relevant to Bitcoin because Bloomberg wanted to use his power as President of the U.S. to more fairly regulate cryptocurrency. A Financial Reform Policy from the ex-candidate read:
Cryptocurrencies have become an asset class worth hundreds of billions of dollars, yet regulatory oversight remains fragmented and undeveloped. For all the promise of the blockchain, Bitcoin and initial coin offerings, there’s also plenty of hype, fraud and criminal activity. Mike will work with regulators to provide clearer rules of the game.
- Federal Reserve Cuts Interest Rate, Boosting Bitcoin Narrative: After