ST. MORITZ — The United States may be entering a second Cold War, according to some investors, who seem mildly curious but otherwise unconcerned about the prospect. “It’s a kind of Cold War, but not just for crypto,” said Multicoin Capital’s Beijing-based partner Mable Jiang. “Currency is the leverage.” Jiang said China’s goal is to leverage the rise of cryptocurrency, including both domestic bitcoin mining and a state-issued digital currency, to supplant the dollar and become the world’s leading economic power. Such rivalries feel lightyears away in the frosted Swiss…
Month: January 2020
Grayscale Investments Reports Record-Breaking Year
Digital currency asset manager Grayscale Investments banked a stellar 2019 to surpass the $1 billion mark in total investments and now has over $2 billion in AUM. By the numbers In a comprehensive eighteen-page report, the firm touted a record Q4 in 2019. It raised $225.5 million into its investment products, lifting the year’s inflow to $607.7 million after back-to-back quarterlies over $225 million, possibly signaling a larger market trend. 71 percent of the year’s inflow sprung from institutional investors. Managing director Michael Sonnenshein told Cointelegraph: “We saw record-breaking investment…
VC Giant Grayscale Investments Reports Record-Breaking Year
Venture capital firm Grayscale Investments banked a stellar 2019 to surpass the $1 billion mark in total investments. By the numbers In a comprehensive eighteen-page report, the firm touted a record Q4 in 2019. It raised $225.5 million into its investment products, lifting the year’s inflow to $607.7 million after back-to-back quarterlies over $225 million, possibly signaling a larger market trend. 71 percent of the year’s inflow sprung from institutional investors. Managing director Michael Sonnenshein told Cointelegraph: “We saw record-breaking investment into Grayscale’s family of products, illustrating continued demand from…
US Lawmakers Try Again on Tax Relief for Small Crypto Payments
U.S. lawmakers have resurrected a bipartisan push to exempt gains from small cryptocurrency transactions from being taxed. On Thursday, Reps. Suzan DelBene (D-Wash.), David Schweikert (R-Ariz.), Darren Soto (D-Fla.) and Tom Emmer (R-Minn.) introduced “The Virtual Currency Tax Fairness Act of 2020,” an amendment to IRS tax code that would exempt realized gains under $200, otherwise known as a de minimis threshold. From a practical standpoint the bill could simplify the tax burdens of day-to-day crypto users who must report even marginal capital gains under current federal law. This is…
Telegram Token Sales Canceled By Liquid Exchange
Japan-based Liquid Exchange has canceled the sale of Telegram’s Gram tokens and returned funds to customers as the messaging app company remains embroiled in an SEC lawsuit. The exchange has said that it is acting in compliance with the investor agreement, which states that Telegram’s Open Network (TON) should have been launched by October 31, 2019; otherwise it must initiate the process of returning funds to investors. As a result of the longstanding lawsuit brought against the messaging app by the SEC, an injunction has been brought out to prevent…
Decred’s Akin Sawyerr Says Blockchain Is Part of Africa’s Political Future
Akin Sawyerr, founder of Feleman Limited, an Africa-focused impact investment and advisory firm based in the Washington, D.C., area, spoke to CoinDesk at the Digital Money Forum. His message? That decentralized finance and governance can rebuild economies all over the world. “I have geographical purview over Africa. So a lot of what I’ve been working on is identifying opportunities around Africa,” he said at the forum held at CES 2020 in Las Vegas. “One of the big challenges you see across Africa is governance. And wherever you have weak governance you have…
Decred’s Akin Sawyerr Says Blockchain Is Part of Africa’s Political Future
Akin Sawyerr, founder of Feleman Limited, an Africa-focused impact investment and advisory firm based in the Washington, D.C., area, spoke to CoinDesk at the Digital Money Forum. His message? That decentralized finance and governance can rebuild economies all over the world. “I have geographical purview over Africa. So a lot of what I’ve been working on is identifying opportunities around Africa,” he said at the forum held at CES 2020 in Las Vegas. “One of the big challenges you see across Africa is governance. And wherever you have weak governance you have…
Why ‘Crypto Dad’ Is Building the Digital Dollar Foundation
As Libra continues to spur discussions among regulators around the world, and China’s digital yuan comes ever closer to fruition, the U.S. Federal Reserve seems disinclined to look seriously at a digital dollar. Ex-CFTC Chair Chris Giancarlo – aka “Crypto Dad” – isn’t waiting around. He has teamed with Accenture to launch the nonprofit Digital Dollar Foundation. As crypto continues to evolve, it does so in sometimes divergent directions. Gemini announced a new insurance company designed to make big institutions more comfortable with the space. Zcash, meanwhile, released an updated…
Why ‘Crypto Dad’ Is Building the Digital Dollar Foundation
As Libra continues to spur discussions among regulators around the world, and China’s digital yuan comes ever closer to fruition, the U.S. Federal Reserve seems disinclined to look seriously at a digital dollar. Ex-CFTC Chair Chris Giancarlo – aka “Crypto Dad” – isn’t waiting around. He has teamed with Accenture to launch a new non-profit, the Digital Dollar Foundation. As crypto continues to evolve, it does so in sometimes divergent directions. Gemini announced a new insurance company designed to make big institutions more comfortable with the space. Zcash, meanwhile, released…
Fake News on Steroids: Deepfakes Are Coming – Are World Leaders Prepared?
This is part of a series of op-eds previewing the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. CoinDesk will be on the ground in Davos from Jan. 20–24 chronicling all things crypto at the annual gathering of the world’s economic and political elite. Follow along by subscribing to our pop-up newsletter, CoinDesk Confidential: Davos. Arif Khan is the CEO of Alethea AI. The opinions here are his own. Despite its shortcomings, the World Economic Forum has laudably established itself as an important venue for highlighting controversial technology trends that will have…