Crypto Scoop: Bitcoin Continues to Dip Following Recent High

Happy New Month and welcome to December, a merry-making period.

It’s the last month of 2021 but not the last days of cryptocurrencies.

Do you want to show some love to a friend, family or colleague with some crypto? Well, ride on! While thinking about who to send some BTC to, we invite you to glance through top trending news about cryptocurrencies.

On today’s Scoop, we bring you exciting news about bitcoin and the crypto space.

After the drastic decline experienced last month in the market price of Bitcoin (BTC), its new price is gradually rising again but at the moment, is stabilised above the $53,000. Before we give more exciting news, let’s have a look at some cryptocurrencies market prices update:

• Bitcoin (BTC): $56,974, +0.5%
• Ether (ETH): $4,532, -0.7%

Will crypto get regulated by the US government?

“Well-crafted regulation will help to promote the adoption of crypto assets and their related services,” the Morgan Stanley analysts wrote.

Following a research publication note from Morgan Stanley last week, regulators are working to enact some rules for dealers in cryptocurrencies. This would include individuals, banks and corporations offering crypto services. These developments are expected to be put in place as soon as possible.

According to a joint statement, The Federal Reserve, Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. (FDIC) and Office of the Controller of the Currency (OCC) are working hand in hand to make these developments come to the limelight at the service of firms offering services in the crypto space. Moreover, the regulations intend to “assess potential capital and liquidity standards for banks to adhere to when providing crypto-related services,”. As such, Banks offering crypto services will have to align to a working framework which will include “custody; facilitation of customer purchase/sales of crypto assets; crypto collateral loans; issuance and distribution of stablecoins; and activities involving the holding of crypto assets on banks’ balance sheets,”

Banking institutions express some fears stating that the speed with which Financial policymakers are working will rather prevent cryptocurrency adoption than promote it in accordance with the measures they aim at implementing. This may just be a loud thought. However, we will bring you details in our subsequent scoop on how things evolve.

Top cryptocurrency executives set to appear before US Congress

Prior to regulation talks, the executives of eight major cryptocurrency firms are set to appear before a US Congressional committee on Dec. 8. This news has made the crypto community even more enthusiastic as this marks the first time in the history of the crypto sector that such a hearing will be held. Alesia Haas of Coinbase, Jeremy Allaire of Circle, Brian Brooks of Bitfury, and Sam Bankman-Fried of FTX Trading are getting their files ready to defend their businesses, or rather the interests of all Cryptocurrency believers at a time when more and more people across the globe see the future of finance in cryptocurrency.

The House Financial Services Committee on Wednesday made the news public explaining that the executives will provide insight into the benefits and challenges of financial innovation in the US. 

Lawmakers in the US have been diligently observing the trend of cryptocurrency with keen interest to understand the twists and turns of the industry. This could be the time to develop regulations to guide the evolution of cryptocurrencies.   Come to think of it, would the regulations enforce or weaken crypto adoptions? Without any clear cut response, we can only wait and see how this ends. 

 Politics and Finance: A possible homogenous mixture?  

Recently, the top political elite of Miami and New York,  Francis Suarez and Eric Adams respectively both plan on taking their paychecks in Bitcoin. Adams on his side plans to get a New York coin similar to MiamiCoin. As much as this sounds a little controversial as it does not align with the duties of a Mayor, it is also in one way a step forward in easing the transactions within the New York municipalities. What does Adam stand to gain? Oh well, will New Yorkers align to this vision? Apparently, it has happened in Miami, why not New York? It sounds like an imitation of good practice.

More interesting is the request made by the Mayor for Schools to add cryptocurrency and blockchain to the curriculum. Mayor Adams surely sees a bright future in crypto and would not want the population of his municipality to be left out of the evolution of the financial system.

On the other hand, Mayor Suarez of Miami has announced plans to pay Miami residents Bitcoin dividends accruing from a newly-developed Bitcoin fund. The two Mayors are now in a “friendly race” to establish their jurisdictions as crypto-friendly hubs. These are two politicians who have decided to toe the line as far as cryptocurrency is concerned. Will their counterparts follow suit?

Ethereum provides better inflationary hedging properties

Cryptocurrency researchers have recently made thrilling revelations that  Ether provides “better inflationary hedging properties than Bitcoin, and Ether may therefore offer a superior long-term value storage than Bitcoin.”

There has been growing interest in Bitcoin’s leading position of 21 million coins and its suitability as an inflation hedge due to rampant money printing during the pandemic and inflation increasing throughout to hit 6.2% in the U.S in October. However, the research suggests investors may also wish to consider Ethereum for this purpose.

The revelations have boosted Ethereum supporters, who have now named the digital currency the “ultrasound money” in response to Bitcoin's nicknames the "hard money" or "sound money." However, Bitcoin supporters like MicroStrategy head Michael Saylor favour Bitcoin because they see it as infinitely more secure, sustainable and popular in terms of hash rate. Besides, despite its continuous volatile nature, it has been able to stand the test of time. Ethereum has been undergoing constant evolution and has seen issuance change.

India to regulate, not ban, crypto: Cabinet documents

Early November, the Indian economic press was flooded with news about the ban of Cryptocurrency in India. It is obvious that this news got Indian Crypto believers and investors way above 37°C. This week, the rising temperatures have fallen as reports from local media showed that the Indian government will not move for an outright ban on crypto and will instead regulate the sector. This time, it is not just another agenda setup by the press but real facts.

This was made public in a Cabinet note circulated by the government on the upcoming cryptocurrency bill. Such good news has made crypto investors and the industry more confident and hopeful. The bill defining cryptocurrency as a crypto asset will be under the scrutiny of the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) in the days ahead. All hope is not lost for Cryptocurrencies in India.

David Marcus leaves Facebook – is this the beginning of the end for Diem?

David Marcus announcement to leave Facebook has been trending since his tweet on November 30 at 6:50 PM “after a fulfilling seven years at Meta, I’ve made the difficult decision to step down and leave the company at the end of this year” it is worth noting that while at Meta he was leading its Diem stablecoin effort. Some experts claim that his resignation from Facebook could be a sign that Facebook is giving up its stablecoin effort.

Is Jack leaving Twitter for Bitcoin?

Twitter CEO, Jack championed the inclusion of Bitcoin as a tipping method for content creators on the social media platform. During his time at Twitter, his efforts to promote the adoption of Bitcoin were overtly significant. He had always emphasised that Bitcoin will always be a big part of Twitter’s future. Now that he is no longer piloting the affairs of Twitter, all hope seemed lost for onlookers. But mind you,  it's not over. Twitter will most likely continue down this path.

This is evident because Jack is being replaced by Parag Agrawal, the former Twitter CTO. As reported by The Verge, Agrawal is an even bigger Bitcoin fan than Jack. Some employees at Twitter revealed that Agrawal actually mentored Jack to lead the company towards exploring Bitcoin.

Therefore, he is a square peck that fits squarely in the bitcoin adventure started by his predecessor. Many however speculate that Jack is leaving Twitter for Bitcoin. After all, he has stated in the past that he would be willing to make the switch “if Bitcoin ever needed him.”

And with Jack's exit from Twitter also came the announcement of Square's name changes to Block - which the company says better captures the company's growth and current status.

Meanwhile, as we look forward to what December has in store to close the year with, keep using crypto to meet your needs and grow your portfolio!

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