China Bans Cryptocurrencies Again.
China has not been a fan of cryptocurrencies for a while. They can’t control it and they know it. A statement from the People’s Bank of China (PBOC) states that the ban was implemented to “maintain national security and social stability”.
As China is also rolling out its own central bank digital currency, we would also speculate that the crypto ban is intended to see off any crypto competition.
You can read about Central Bank Digital Currencies here.
China is in a tricky spot right now. While the Evergrande fiasco is still threatening to rock the world they need to keep calm and carry on. They also need to keep tighter control on the money moving in and out of their economy in order to stop significant outflows. For those who lack faith in the Chinese system Crypto is a great way for them to store and move their wealth. By shutting down the exchanges China hopes to cut the masses off from the supply.
What happens now?
Cryptocurrencies are being adopted and developed around the world. China cannot stop its determined citizens from buying and holding unless it is prepared to shut down the internet (not going to happen). Shutting down the miners and exchanges will slow adoption but it doesn’t stop Chinese citizens from earning Crypto for work produced. Guess we will see what happens but we feel they have just shot themselves in the future foot.
JPM Tells World That All Big Investors Are Dumping Bitcoin For Ethereum
Presumably JPM has been stocking up on its Ethereum holdings. At the Wealth Gap we love Ethereum but we also acknowledge it is exposed to a lot of additional risks that simply aren’t there for Bitcoin.
Read our article ‘Ethereum for Dummies’ here
Ethereum Developer Pleads Guilty To Violating Sanctions Laws For Giving A Cryptocurrency And Blockchain Presentation At A North Korean Conference in 2019.
North Korea is a heavily sanctioned country (something to do with a tyrannical dictator, nuclear weapons & terrorist financing). Anyhow Virgil Griffith travelled to North Korea to speak at a Blockchain conference. The problem is blockchain technology provides a way to circumvent many of the financial sanctions North Korea is burdened by. Uncle Sam was not happy.
Griffith could serve 63-78 months in prison.
Twitter Will Now Let You Tip People Using The Bitcoin Strike Lightning Network
You can now tip people on Twitter using the Bitcoin Lightning Network.
How does it work? Turns out very well. We downloaded the Muun wallet, sent £20 of Bitcoin to it from Coinbase, connected it to Twitter using the button in twitter and tipped Jack Maller $1.
Why Jack Maller? Because he founded Strike, we like him, and he had a tipping address.
With 330,000,000 users this expansion of the Lightening Network into the native platform of Twitter has significantly increased the use case and growth potential of Bitcoin.
A Hamster Is Trading Crypto:
Everyone loves Hamsters. Mr Goxx is a hamster that trades Crypto and has been doing quite well apparently. Check out the video from July.
Apparently, Mr Goxx has outperformed the S&P 500 since he started trading.
El Salvador Says A Third Of Its Population Is Now Using The Chivo Bitcoin Wallet
Plum (The Savings App) Will Soon Let You Save In Crypto.
We found out about this the other day. Plum joins Twitter, Paypal, Revolut and all the others that are getting in on Crypto action.
Bitfinex just spent $23.7 million in fees to make a single $100,000 transaction on Ethereum
The good news is the $23.7 million has been returned. This appears to have been a bug with a smart contract. No customer funds were at risk. You can see the transaction here.
Until Next Time
The Wealth Gap