Pro-Bitcoin Proponent Calls For Federal Reserve Abolishment

An ex-congressman of the United States Of America has called once again for the abolishment of the Federal Reserve right after the federal agency raised the baseline interest rate to around 2.25% to 2.5%.

This is the fourth time the organization raised interest rates in 2018 sparking fears that the U.S. market might be heading to another recession that may trigger a global recession in the coming year.

Ron Paul, the father of current US Senator Rand Paul and a retired US Congressman, expressed his disappointment with this recent development saying that the Fed has no idea what the rates should be.

He also accuses the Fed of manipulating prices and distorting the economy making decisions from data from a distorted economy.

Furthermore, he warns the public that this might lead to the next Fed-created recession that would eventually lead to the end of fiat currency.

The former bitcoin skeptic turned proponent said that the only way to avoid a Fed-created recession is to let people use alternative currencies like bitcoin and to exempt cryptocurrencies from taxes.

Ron is a libertarian who opposes government intervention in the free market.

Cryptocurrency community prefers the crypto ecosystem to be decentralized and an unregulated market.

Facebook Developing Crypto For WhatsApp

It has been reported that Facebook Inc. is currently developing a cryptocurrency for its encrypted messaging app Whatsapp.

The company is planning to initially target the largest remittance market in the world with annual transfers of about $69 billion USD, India.

Whatsapp is also a popular mobile application in the country with an estimated number of users of above 200 million users.

The new cryptocurrency being developed will be a stablecoin aimed to be used in daily purchases without being too concerned about its price movements.

Stablescoins has been booming this past year and there had been more than 120 ventures related to this type of coin.

However, creating a stable coin is not as simple as it looks in fact there had been incidents that projects had to close even with strong backing from big investors due to regulatory concerns.

Facebook may have a better chance of navigating the regulatory landscape on this nascent industry, as it has more experience in doing such with more than 2.5 billion global users and $40 billion in annual revenues.

If the company will be able to pull off a successful crypto project it would be the first large technology company to do so.

Bakkt Set to Be Launched January 24, 2019

Physically settled Bitcoin (USD) Daily Futures Contract of Bakkt is set to be launched early next year 2019.

The exact date of the release will be on January 24, 2019 assuming that the initiative will be approved by the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) by the time of the target release date.

The company has been hard at work to ensure its business plan is compliant with the agency’s regulatory framework.

The whole cryptocurrency community has been waiting for the release of Bakkt’s product offering as it is widely speculated that this might be the catalyst that will turn the fortunes of the crypto space which has been in prolonged period of bearish trend.

Bakkt was developed by the Intercontinental Exchange, parent company of the world’s largest stock exchange, New York Stock Exchange (NYSE).

The product offering of Bakkt was supposed to be launched December 12, 2018 but was later on reschedule to the aforementioned date. Kelly Loeffler, the CEO of Bakkt states that this will provide them ample time to onboard customers and clearing member before the start of trading and warehousing of the new contract.

UAE Banks To Leveraging Blockchain Technology Soon

United Arab Emirates (UAE) is widely regarded as a blockchain hub in its region due to its progressive stance on blockchain technology as well as its efforts in research and adoption of the nascent technology at a statewide level.

It has been reported that the United Arab Emirates Banks Federation (UBF) is now looking into ways how the different bank members will be able to leverage the blockchain technology.

The UBF is a Federation of 50 banks which is responsible for creating initiatives and regulatory frameworks in order to establish a thriving banking ecosystem in the country.

Through its Advisory Council it was able to determine that blockchain technology plays a pivotal role in enhancing its ecosystem. Its chairman, Al Ghurair believes that that the adoption of blockchain-based platform can help banks get access to sustainable revenue streams which are necessary for a sustained business growth.

For the past few months the government of UAE has been determined to utilize blockchain technology and actively looking on ways how the technology can be implemented in the country, not only to bosst the economy but also to improve the overall quality of life.

The recent initiative of UBF is in line with the wider initiative of the government dubbed as “the Emirates Blockchain Strategy 2021.”

Western Union May Use Crypto In The future

According to mainstream media, the president of Western Union, Odilon Almeida has expressed interest on using cryptocurrencies and has revealed that they have been experimenting with the use of the new digital assets for awhile now.

He said that his company is interested in adopting cryptocurrencies as an option for users to exchange fiat currencies.

However he states that this will only happen when there is wider acceptance for said new type of currencies and will be able to connect to the global audience.

He reveals that there are three stumbling blocks why this has not happened.

These are: volatility, governance, and compliance.

Almeida insist that his company s willing to adopt any kind of currency stating that they are already operating in 130 countries.

He says that from a technology stand-point crypto are just one more currency them and If demand dictates that they support this currency they are able and more than willing to do so.

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