Robinhood Adds Zero-Fee Cryptocurrency Trading and Tracking (Tech Crunch)
No-commission stock trading app Robinhood will let you buy and sell Bitcoin and Ethereum without any added transaction fees starting in February, compared to Coinbase’s 1.5 to 4 percent fees in the US. And as of today Robinhood will let all users track the price, news, and set up alerts on those and 14 other top crypto coins, including Litecoin and Ripple. “We’re planning to operate this business on a break-even basis and we don’t plan to profit from it for the foreseeable future” says Robinhood co-founder Vlad Tenev. “The value of Robinhood Crypto is in growing our customer base and better serving our existing customers.”
SEC, CFTC Chiefs Eye Closer Crypto Scrutiny (CoinDesk)
Two U.S. financial regulators are increasing their agencies’ commitment to bringing closer scrutiny to the country’s cryptocurrency industry. In a Wall Street Journal op-ed published yesterday, both the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ands the Commodity and Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) voiced that they are devoting a significant portion of resources to monitoring the industry. And along with other authorities, they will continue to stamp down on fraudulent activities in the market.
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Will Britain Ban Bitcoin? Theresa May Wants UK To Crack Down On Bitcoin Trading (Lad Bible)
You can tell that cryptocurrency has hit the big time when world leaders are discussing it in speeches. The Bitcoin creators could never have imagined that it would become so big when they first set it up as a digital alternative to traditional currency back in 2008. Well, today at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, British Prime Minister Theresa May said that she was having a serious thought about whether to bring in new rules to regulate the sale and purchase of Bitcoin. But will Britain ban Bitcoin? The markets for Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies are pretty changeable and even the idea that they might be regulated is usually enough to make them go into freefall.
What You Need to Know About Neo, the ‘Smart Economy’ Cryptocurrency (www.inverse.com)
Neo is taking the world by storm. Since its launch by Da Hongfei in 2014, it’s skyrocketed to become China’s largest cryptocurrency. Its creators have big plans to power a new “smart economy,” where assets are traded in a public ledger and people write “smart contracts” that shift money around when certain conditions are met, a lot like a computer program. “We want to be the place people go to when they want to do serious and reliable transactions,” Da said in a Bloomberg interview earlier this month.
Britain to Ban Bitcoin? Theresa May Hints at Cryptocurrency Clampdown (Metro.co.uk)
Prime Minister Theresa May has vowed to ‘very seriously’ consider whether to draw up tough new rules which govern the buying and selling of Bitcoin. Speaking at Davos, the PM called for closer scrutiny of the notoriously volatile virtual money markets, which are a long way from strong and stable. She said: ‘Cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin, we should be looking at these very seriously, precisely because of the way that they can be used, particularly by criminals.’ May also said there were huge possibilities for Britain to attract tech companies once Britain leaves the European Union.
Could Davos Meetings Impact the Price of Ethereum? (Investopedia.com)
Like other cryptocurrencies, ethereum has been on a wild ride over the past few months. After climbing by significant margins in 2017, ETH started out the new year with a series of sharp price drops. Investors rotated funds out in the direction of fiat currency throughout January, and ETH fell to below $940 per token on January 22nd. While this still marks a significant increase in value since this time last year, it nonetheless has some cryptocurrency enthusiasts concerned. Now, analysts are wondering if the annual meetings of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, could impact the price of ethereum.
Ripple Hopes XRP Will Be The Bitcoin For The Banks – Will The Banks Accept It? (News4c.com)
Will Banks Accept The XRP? The banks are afraid of the high volatility of the coin, therefore they are sitting back and avoid signing up for XRP operations. Moreover, banks representatives say there’s almost no chance to entrust customers’ money operations to a cryptocurrency system. Joseph Lubin, the founder of the ConsenSys an Ethereum blockchain-based apps developer, is even more drastically when it comes to XRP. He said that the XRP is a useless token and is only good for the Ripple team to finance their other activities.
Cryptocurrency Scammers Are Running Wild On Telegram (BuzzFeedNews)
Crypto Callz, a free-to-join chatroom on Telegram that artificially inflates the price of cryptocurrencies, is not shy about advertising what it is. “Welcome to Crypto Callz, a leading cryptocurrency pump group where we skyrocket the value of coins for six hours at a time,” an unnamed narrator explains in a slick welcome video. Quick, polished animations offer a seemingly easy paint-by-numbers path to crypto riches: Open an account on a New Zealand–based cryptocurrency exchange! Follow our Telegram channel for what coin to buy and purchase it as soon as possible! Watch as your coin’s value increases “by 1000% to 2000%!” The video concludes with a burst of animated dollar-bill stacks. “Together we profit!” it exclaims.
Japan Turns into Cryptocurrency Haven as Others Crack Down (asia.nikkei.com)
TOKYO — Japan is fast turning into the world’s top haven for cryptocurrencies, drawing benefit from a broader clampdown in China and South Korea on the main digital currency, bitcoin. Authorities in Tokyo are walking a tightrope between protecting consumers and preserving Japan’s own reputation for innovation. But some fear the reluctance to tighten the rules on bitcoin trading could expose the country to financial risk.
