This Week in Crypto: A Rundown

Ah, Sundays. The day of rest, brunch, and of course, the perfect time to catch up on everything you missed in the wild world of cryptocurrencies. Hold on to your Bitcoin and grab your favorite beverage—let’s dive into this week’s highlights!

The BlockShow Asia Buzz

BlockShow Asia 2019 took place in Singapore, attracting quite a crowd and plenty of hot takes. Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao took to the stage, opining that China’s emerging central bank digital currency (CBDC) will be blockchain-based. His compelling logic? Beijing wants the renminbi to tango with the U.S. dollar on a global scale. As he put it, “Having stablecoins is better than not having them.” It seems like CN coins are about to hit the dance floor!

Crypto Regulation: Clarity or Chaos?

Regulation was another meaty discussion point at BlockShow. Edith Yeung from Proof of Capital criticized U.S. regulators for creating a foggy crypto landscape while exchanges flee the country. On the other hand, Quoine’s Mike Kayamori cautioned: “The government can’t regulate what it doesn’t understand.” Given how unpredictable this industry is, they might want to hire a translator first!

Speculation or Value?

VeChain’s founder Sunny Lu illuminated the audience by asserting that 99% of token price is pure speculation. Yes, you heard that right! Most tokens could be following the age-old adage: “Invest first, ask questions later.” He emphasized that this rampant speculation often diverts startups from their meaningful mission. Talk about a real treasure hunt!

International Developments

Shifting gears to India: The parliament is keeping its options open and delaying discussions about a total crypto ban. You could almost hear the collective sigh of relief from crypto enthusiasts across the subcontinent. Meanwhile, the co-founder of the infamous OneCoin scam, Konstantin Ignatov, pleaded guilty to multiple charges and is looking at up to 90 years behind bars. Guess he won’t be crypto-hodling any time soon!

Market Movers: Winners and Losers

• Winners: MMOCoin, eosBLACK, Sparkster
• Losers: Monoeci, USDX, Bitcoin God

As it stands, Bitcoin is sitting at a casual $8,602.00, while Ether and XRP are at $185.44 and $0.27, respectively. The total market cap now struts around at a hefty $235 billion. Not too shabby!

Most Colorful Quotes of the Week

“Economics and ethics can go together thanks to decentralization.” – Ben Goertzel, SingularityNET CEO

“In the future, I believe today’s applications will become legacy applications.” – Da Hongfei, NEO founder

With such enlightening quotes floating around, it’s clear that the thought leaders in this space wear their hearts (and their eccentricities) on their sleeves!

FUD and Predictions

In light of the week’s happenings, a Dutch court has told Facebook to remove fake Bitcoin ads after a local billionaire pointed fingers at them for fraudulent claims. Meanwhile, the IRS is casting its investigative net over Bitcoin ATMs. John Fort from the IRS said, “Where’s the money coming from?” like a nosy neighbor peeking over the fence.

And for the prediction of the week, Pavel Kravchenko warned that Bitcoin’s rising institutional interest could lead to a crash to zero. In his colorful words, if institutional players come pouring in, intermediaries might just take away its censorship-resistant party hat. What a buzzkill!