📌 Andrew Yang's Crypto Plan, XRP Tied to Massive Scam, and a Federal Reserve Stablecoin?

MUST READS  Fidelity Digital Assets Gets Approval to Custody Bitcoin for Institutions Bakkt got NY Trust Charter's approval last week. And Fidelity gets their approval this week. This allows Fidelity to provide crypto custody services for all institutional investors. (We touched on the importance of crypto custody solutions in last week's letter here). Let's not forget – Fidelity is one of the largest asset managers in the world with $2.46 trillion in assets under management. 👀   Bitcoin Fixes This: PayPal Cuts Payouts To Over 100,000 Pornhub Models Bitcoin is being championed as the solution to a new payment crisis affecting the adult entertainment website Pornhub. In a blog post on Nov. 14, Pornhub revealed that payment processor PayPal had abruptly stopped servicing its models. Very ironic considering porn is what led to the creation of online payments and e-commerce in the first place in the 90s. Can you imagine if the entire industry standardized itself on #blockchain crypto payments & boycotted the failing legacy bank system? H/t @jaredctate.   99% of Token Price Is Pure Speculation Says VeChain Founder There's no big-time story here, but rather just a big-time quote: "99% of a [token's value] is linked to speculation, and not to the value that solution can bring to society. This causes many startups to waste a lot of time producing and 'selling' the token, failing to develop solutions for where they were initially focused." Love it when token founders sprinkle of a pinch of reality to the world. We couldn't have said it better ourselves. Without utility, we're unfortunately only left with speculation. This is what's driving prices up and down 99% of the time...    SPONSORED  Congressman Shares Massive Crypto Story TONIGHT If you didn't buy bitcoin for 5 cents back in 2010, then get ready for TONIGHT. A three-time candidate for President of the United States will join our friends at Stansberry Research and make a major announcement at 8pm ET. In short, it could hand you the biggest investment gain of your life… on a tiny crypto trading for less than a cup of coffee.    DEEP DIVE  Blockchain Analytics Firm Elliptic Finds Over $400M Worth of XRP Tied to Illegal Activities There are over $400 million worth of illicit activities conducted via XRP, and a large portion of these activities are scams and Ponzi schemes, Elliptic, a blockchain analytics startup, has found. Elliptic is quick to point out though that illicit activity identified represents less than 0.2% of total XRP transactions, demonstrating that the vast majority of activity is legitimate. In other XRP related news, Ryan Selkis at Messari has some words about Ripple's charitable donations (none) and potential tax sheltering.   The Tales of Two Crypto Companies Going Public Some interesting developments to pay attention to are crypto companies who decide to go public (through a real IPO, not an ICO). This quarter, we've got Silvergate and Canaan Creative on deck. To get the inside scoop on "the bank of crypto," Silvergate (NYSE), we're going to pass it along to Matt Levine of Bloomberg who shares an interesting perspective. On the other hand, we have crypto hardware firm, Canaan Creative (NASDAQ). They have recently revised their initial valuation and have seen a fair share of skeptics.   Crypto Derivatives: A Corner of the Market or the Market Itself? A little known fact: Derivate exchanges have 10x more volume than respective spot market exchanges. Here's why... along with an interesting big-picture take on crypto derivative markets in general.   China Cracks Down on Bitcoin (For the Hundredth Time) After President Xi Jingping's recent praise for blockchain technology, Chinese crypto speculation skyrocketed, leading the countries financial regulators to crack down on cryptocurrency trading again. The move underscores China's complicated relationship with emerging decentralized technologies. For some context on what the ACTUAL state of crypto, bitcoin, and blockchain is in China, we urge you to read these slides on the "Top 5 China Myths" from @DoveyWan's presentation at InvestNYC earlier this week.    SPONSORED  Analyst: "All Hell is About to Break Loose" They warned investors that the stock market was going to collapse in 1987... they forecasted the tech stock bubble in 1999... and they predicted the housing crash of 2007. If you were one of the millions of Americans who didn't heed their warnings then, we implore you to watch their video and listen this time. There's not a moment to lose. See for yourself why this man is sounding the alarm bell with good reason.    REGULATORY FRONT  Presidential Canidate Andrew Yang Outlines Crypto Revamp U.S. Democratic 2020 presidential candidate Andrew Yang has outlined how he intends to regulate the crypto industry at a national level... In a blog post, Yang states that crypto fraud is due to a lack of adequate regulations... and he's not far off by any means. In his opinion, other countries are ahead of the U.S. on regulation, which is forcing the U.S. to play catch up. His framework would define what a token is, and when it is a security; define which federal agencies have regulatory power over crypto; provide for consumer protections; and clarify the tax implications of owning, selling, and trading cryptocurrencies.   Federal Reserve Evaluating Digital Dollar Earlier today, Chairman Powell said that the Fed is looking into creating a digital dollar, but the benefits of doing so are still unclear. Truthfully, this story is a can of worms. If anything comes into fruition, plenty of issues could arise. This includes monetary policy, citizen privacy, regulations, IT security – you name it. Not a surprise that the Fed is "looking" into it though...    TWEET OF THE WEEK  Other Articles You May Enjoy 2019 Crypto Trends Report   🇸🇬 Singapore poised to allow crypto derivatives on approved venues   Mike Novogratz wants to bring bitcoin to the 1% with new funds   Messari's leaked pitch deck   PayPal leads $42M funding round for crypto risk management platform   Winklevoss brothers acquire crypto collectible startup   Coinbase's crypto Visa debit card adds support for XRP and 4 more coins   The inside story of Binance's explosive rise to power   US authorities extradite a Swedish man allegedly involved in $11M crypto fraud   The SEC is reviewing the Bitwise Bitcoin ETF rejection   Iran offers bounty for exposing illegal cryptocurrency mining   Anonymous fund plans to invest and donate $75M in bitcoin to startups working on enhancing privacy   Ukrainian Railways branch caught mining crypto with state power 🚆 The CoinSnacks weekly digest is a manually curated newsletter that delivers fresh content covering cryptoassets and the evolving blockchain community for investors around the world. The digest is curated by CoinSnacks employees and sent once a week. CoinSnacks | 5500 Military Trail Suite 22-250 | Jupiter, Florida | 33458 Unsubscribe | View in Browser

PayPal's reasons for leaving Libra / Libra Association logs 51,000 transactions / Is Libra a security?

Inside Libra presented by The Motley Fool.

Presented by Subscribe | View in browser 1. PayPal's CEO Dan Schulman has explained in an interview why he withdrew from Facebook's Libra. According to Schulman, when David Marcus, Facebook's head of Libra, first approached PayPal, he spoke about the project and how it would help boost financial inclusion, which interested the payment company. However, as they began to find out more, PayPal realized that there was still a lot that Libra had to do, and there were other things PayPal needed to focus on first. Schulman said they believed they would be able to advance financial inclusion faster if they focused on their own roadmap rather than put their resources into Libra. He added that PayPal would take another look at Libra "once [Libra] start figuring things out." –FORTUNE       2. Over the past two months, the Libra Association has logged more than 30 projects and 51,000 transactions on the Libra network. This is despite global regulators' concerns over the stablecoin since it was first announced in June. According to a press release, the projects that have taken part in the network's development include 10 wallets, 11 blockchain explorers, two integrated development environments, one application programming interface (API), and 11 clients. –COINTELEGRAPH       A MESSAGE FROM THE MOTLEY FOOL 5 Stocks That Could Set You Up For Life Whether you're an experienced investor or not, having time to research stocks can be a challenge. That's where The Motley Fool comes in. We've put together an exclusive report with five stocks for building wealth, and we're offering it for free to Inside.com readers. That's right: completely free. Click here to claim your free copy of 5 Stocks For Building Wealth! 3. Heath Tarbert, chair of the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), has indicated that it's not clear what sort of product Libra will be or whether it'll be classified as a security given its development is in a state of flux. Contrasting it to Bitcoin, Tarbert noted that Libra is a "very different product" that is still developing with several unanswered questions. Turning his attention to blockchain regulation, the CFTC chair noted that the U.S. was not seen as a global leader. This, he says, is highlighted by the fact that the Libra Association chose Switzerland as its base with Singapore as a possible second choice. –CNBC       4. In its latest Financial Stability Report, the U.S. Federal Reserve (Fed) said that Libra has the potential to "rapidly achieve widespread adoption." However, it added that if it was improperly designed and unregulated, stablecoins such as Libra could present risks to financial stability. The central bank noted that in extreme cases, holders may be unable to convert stablecoins into fiat currency on demand. Notably, though, compared to previous feelings on Libra, the Fed's report has come across as largely optimistic. That, of course, didn't stop the Fed's chair Jerome Powell stating in July that Libra can't "go forward" without first addressing concerns regarding money laundering, privacy, and customer protection, among other issues. –THE BLOCK       5. Libra Association member and blockchain protocol provider Bison Trails has raised $25.5 million in a Series A funding round. Led by Blockchain Capital, the money will go toward developing the firm's infrastructure service. Other companies involved in the funding round include early backers Galaxy Digital and Initialized. New investors were Coinbase Ventures, ConsenSys, Kleiner Perkins, A Capital, Collaborative Fund, and Sound Ventures. –COIN DESK       6. In this opinion piece, the writer argues that Facebook's Libra is a better option for consumers than Facebook Pay. Joshua Gans, a professor of strategic management at the University of Toronto's Rotman School of Management, also compared the differences between the two. For instance, he notes Facebook Pay is available in a person's local currency, whereas Libra is a currency pegged to a number of local currencies. Another difference is that Facebook Pay is closed and only available on Facebook apps. Libra, on the other hand, is governed by a group of members and is intended to be used anywhere. As a result of this, Gans thinks that Libra is better for consumers even if Facebook Pay is "potentially better for Facebook." –THE GLOBE AND MAIL       7. A survey has found that Facebook plays a "key role" in the Libra Association and that it won't be forced to leave if it moves forward before regulators approval. So far, 3,666 people have voted on Twitter with 54 percent indicating Facebook won't leave compared to 46 percent of people stating that the social media platform will. Back in October, Facebook's CEO Mark Zuckerberg said before the U.S. House Financial Services Committee that it could be forced to abandon the Libra project if the association decided to push ahead before it got approval. –@UPLIBRA/TWITTER       This newsletter was written and curated by Rebecca Campbell. She has been writing and reporting on various industries for the past 10 years, more specifically tech in the last three. Connect with her on Twitter. Edited by Inside Dev and Inside Deals editor Sheena Vasani.       Ad If you want to invest better, you want The Motley Fool.

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