Thursday, November 29, 2018

ETF won't get approved until...😒

November 29, 2018

SEC Chairman Says Market Manipulation Needs to Be Eliminated Before Crypto ETF is Approved

SEC Chair gives insight on ETF approval

Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Chairman John Clayton recently spoke at the Consensus Invest Conference that took place this week in New York.

Of course, cryptocurrency investors were very interested in what the Chairman had to say about his Commission's oversight of the cryptocurrency market.

Among topics discussed during his talk was the pursuit of a cryptocurrency ETF, as well as initial coin offering (ICO) and exchange regulations. Clayton shared with the audience why the SEC is hesitant on approving a cryptocurrency ETF.

No ETF if markets are being manipulated

The SEC Chairman stated that the biggest reason holding the SEC back from approving a cryptocurrency ETF is that the crypto markets still face substantial market manipulation.

Clayton's exact quote regarding the issue reads:

"What investors expect is that trading in the commodity that underlies that ETF makes sense and is free from the risk of manipulation. It's an issue that needs to be addressed before I would be comfortable."

In their current state, most cryptocurrency exchanges do not have the proper safeguards in place to monitor and prevent market manipulation. Clayton says investors need a more fair assessment of Bitcoin's price before an ETF can be deemed safe.

The other issue that needs to be solved

In addition to the market manipulation concern, Chairman Clayton is also worried about how the Bitcoin backing an ETF will be stored. The SEC wants to be sure that the underlying assets backing the ETF are secure and there is no chance that they can be stolen or misplaced.

ANALYSIS

Searches for Bitcoin on Google Show Signs of Life

Highs and lows

Mediocre won't get attention. This holds true for Bitcoin. While the coin was ranging from $6,000 to $7,000 with low volatility for the past 6 months, people became bored.

Now, Google searches for Bitcoin have hit levels not seen since April. Ironically though, this uptick most likely came from Bitcoin's most recent plunge to yearly lows.

Who cares about this?

Well, according to a report by Willy Woo in 2017, traders should.

That's because his study outlined the correlation between Bitcoin Google search volume and the price and found that the coin most often finds itself in bubble territory when search volume is high. In contrast, when Bitcoin search volume is low, Willy Woo claims its the best time to buy.

Though data on this insight is sparse, it certainly held true this year when Bitcoin search volumes hit an all-time high just as the crypto market peaked alongside.

STARTUP

Steemit and SpankChain Become the Latest Projects to Layoff Team

70% and 33%

When the market falls, so do the crypto funds that startups in the industry hold. While many have significant funding runways because they sold back into fiat currency early on in the year, some aren't so lucky.

Among those unlucky are the two latest projects to slim down: Spankchain and Steemit.

For Steemit, the company has now laid off over 70% of its staff according to a video posted by CEO Ned Scott yesterday. SpankChain isn't much better after it announced it has laid off about 33% of its staff so far.

Both startups claimed the reason behind the layoffs was growing concern of a prolonged crypto winter.

More to come?

This could be just the start of layoffs in the crypto market. If the bear market continues, layoffs will likely only grow as startups once ripe with cryptocurrency holdings begin to struggle.

For now, however, it seems both Steemit and SpankChain are being proactive in their approach to cutting costs as they reorganize the structure of their startups.

TRADING

Market Rebounds Off of Recent Yearly Lows

Finally in the green

After an almost year-long bear market that looked like it was going to be capped off with an even more extreme downturn, the cryptocurrency market turned into a sea of green on Wednesday.

The sudden turn in the market came as a surprise to many investors as many were calling for lower bottoms as the market seemed like it was in a freefall.

There is not a clear reason for this market turn around, but it may have been caused by the continuance of positive news relating to cryptocurrency investment products for institutions coming into the market in the near future.

Dead cat bounce or holiday rally?

☠️ What is a dead cat bounce? A dead cat bounce is a small, brief recovery in the price of a declining stock. Derived from the idea that "even a dead cat will bounce if it falls from a great height", the phrase, which originated on Wall Street, is also popularly applied to any case where a subject experiences a brief resurgence during or following a severe decline.

Either this market surge is a dead cat bounce or a sign of a potential rally to end the year.

Many experts are calling for even lower bottoms, so this would imply that the market rally is simply a dead cat bounce. If this is true, the move upwards will be shortlived and the downward spiral will resume shortly.

Some, more hopeful investors are saying that this rally is a sign of an impending bull cycle for the market. December of last year is when the market really took off, maybe this December will be somewhat similar.

BITS

But wait, there's more...

Galaxy Digital lost $136 million in the first three quarters of 2018.
The blockchain oil trading platform backed by BP and Shell just launched.
TRON (TRX) announced a $100 million blockchain gaming fund to help "empower developers."

MEME