The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is seeking a 2.6 million penalty from Ripple in the XRP case. Meanwhile, the Biden administration, along with Mark Cuban and Representative Ro Khanna, are preparing for a crucial crypto roundtable. A Bank of America report reveals that younger wealthy investors are increasingly favoring cryptocurrencies over traditional investments. […]
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David Bailey, CEO of Bitcoin Magazine and Trump campaign cryptocurrency aide, has announced that Former President Donald Trump will participate in a Presidential Roundtable on domestic bitcoin mining as part of its new cryptocurrency-friendly policy. He revealed that big miners from the U.S. would be present at the event without disclosing the list of assistants. […]
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Video Bruce Fenton on the Bitcoin Foundation, Satoshi Roundtable and Scaling
Satoshi Roundtable organizer and long-time Bitcoin advocate Bruce Fenton discusses his early days in Bitcoin, scaling debates and outlook on privacy.nThe post Video Bruce Fenton on the Bitcoin Foundation, Satoshi Roundtable and Scaling appeared first on Bitcoin Magazine.n
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Satoshi’s Roundtable: Community Disputes Over Bitcoin Supply Increase Proposal
Since Bitcoin (BTC) came to life in early-2009, as the cryptocurrency godfather himself, Satoshi Nakamoto, mined the first block, the asset’s 21 million supply limit was made clear as day. While the deflationary nature of BTC made sense at the time, especially to decentralists with the 2008 Great Recession fresh in their minds, the narrative has changed over the years.
Little discussion is had on the matter, but some believe that eventually, the ever-decreasing issuance schedule of the flagship cryptocurrency will become unsustainable. And as such, some who wish to revolutionize the revolutionaries have recently made comments that shocked industry enthusiasts the world over.
Case For More Than 21 Million Bitcoin
For the past five years, through the thick and thin, crashes and parabolic rallies, and crypto industry civil wars, the who’s who of the Bitcoin world have convened at Satoshi’s Roundtable. Not much is known about the event. Media is effectively strictly banned, the list of attendees is hard to find, the event’s location is Somewhere, Mexico, and information regarding what was discussed is taboo. This has led many jokingly liken it to the Bilderberg meeting of the Bitcoin ecosystem.
Yet, in the aftermath of the shadowed event, a number of leading industry insiders took to Twitter to discuss something a bit bizarre — an increase in the supply cap for Bitcoin. And no, this isn’t a joke, such a topic was actually mentioned and discussed seemingly in-depth.
Attendee Matt Luongo, the founder of Fold and the product lead at Keep, released a thread on the subject matter on Monday, explaining why more than 21 million BTC could make sense eventually.
I was the guy that said we might have to one day raise the Bitcoin supply cap. Fight me. https://t.co/ysqHHdcggf
— Matt Luongo (@mhluongo) February 4, 2019
In a thread reminiscent of a thought-out rant, Luongo explained that while it would be unfair to assume what will happen with Bitcoin’s transaction fee market in the long-term, a waning number of miners could pose a threat to the blockchain.
The crypto builder commented that as more block reward halvings activate every four years, miners’ revenue will move from being centered around inflation-based BTC to transaction fee-based BTC. While this is unlikely to occur for at least a decade or two, when the amount of BTC issued per block falls under one, Luongo explained that such a series of events would be a “huge change in the business model and core economics of the network.”
Considering the worst case scenario, Luongo noted that when block rewards become scant, the Bitcoin economy could become “top heavy.” He stated that as transactions on Bitcoin’s main layer, not the Lightning Network or other layers (Liquid), become few and far between, the chain will be susceptible to block reorganizations, as seen recently with Ethereum Classic.
Related Reading: Ripple CTO Claims XRP Eliminates PoW Risks Seen in Ethereum Classic’s 51% Attack
But, it isn’t all bad news bears, as Luongo went on to propose a few solutions. The first, of course, was the curb the long-standing supply limit of BTC to “allow some emission for chain security, at the expense of all holders.” Another mentioned solution was to use Bitcoin’s second layers to “contribute back to chain security.” The Fold founder even remarked that he has more ideas, but explained that as it stands, there’s a chance that BTC could become an unsustainable system, thus defeating its potential to usurp the hegemony of traditional finance.
Not So Fast…
While Luongo has a seemingly bonafide argument for his semi-proposal, others at the exclusive rendezvous of the world’s preeminent Bitcoiners were skeptical. Even those who didn’t get an invite were outspoken, as a hike in the long-term supply of BTC was deemed a joke, even “heresy.”
Andreas Antonopoulos, an anti-establishment figure that once called banks a “cartel,” likened the argument for more BTC than originally stipulated by Satoshi to the dichotomy between taxis and Uber. Armin Van Bitcoin, a Canadian industry commentator, quipped that anybody that holds the thought process that the flagship blockchain needs a “low inflation rate” should unfollow him.
Others also bared their fangs, so to speak, but in a less explicit manner. In a recent series of comments, Travis Kling mentioned that he sees copious amounts of value in Bitcoin’s hardcapped supply. Case in point, in a recent rant that bashed the legacy fiscal system, he lambasted the U.S. Federal Reserve’s enamorment with printing money, calling it a “drug.”
Dan Held, director of business development at Interchange and a former product manager at Blockchain.com, once explained that Satoshi consciously made a decision to keep the 21 million BTC supply cap, ten-minute blocks, and block size caps.
But there were some that came out in support of Luongo’s innocuous statement. Ari Paul of BlockTower explained that Bitcoin can’t survive without discourse, critical thought, and open debate, while Messari’s Ryan Selkis noted that Luongo’s thesis makes sense.
We may be far from a world where Bitcoin is unsecured, but some would argue that it’s best to start a discussion now.
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The post Satoshi’s Roundtable: Community Disputes Over Bitcoin Supply Increase Proposal appeared first on NewsBTC.
US Congress Holding Roundtable With Industry Insiders to Draft Growth Promoting Regulations
Facing a murky regulatory landscape in the U.S., representative Warren Davidson, R-Ohio, is hosting a roundtable Tuesday that includes representatives from Wall Street, venture capital firms, government regulators, and cryptocurrency industry insiders in attempts to draft policy that doesn’t stifle growth.
Crypto Regulation to Be Discussed by Insiders as Well as Government Regulators
The discussions, “Legislating Certainty for Cryptocurrencies,” will see experts weighing-in on how to police the new asset class ahead of a House bill Davidson is drafting this fall regarding regulation of the coins and associated initial coin offerings (ICOs).
“Your input is critical to helping us preempt a heavy-handed regulatory approach that could stall innovation and kill the U.S. ICO market,” Davidson said in a letter to invitees.
The congressman outlined a list of eight questions for the meeting, including “What is the best way to protect consumers from fraud?” The discussion will also cover private funding disclosures and token issuance laws, according to a spokesperson for Davidson.
The representatives at the round table will include Fidelity, State Street, venture capital firms Union Square Ventures and Andreessen Horowitz, and the Nasdaq, according to an attendee list seen by CNBC. Cryptocurrency startups Ripple, Coinbase, and Circle will also take part. As for the government, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce will be present, and Representatives Ted Budd, R-N.C., Tom Emmer, R-Minn., French Hill, R-Ark., and Darren Soto, D-Fla., are set to give opening remarks.
Balancing Consumer Protection and Industry Innovation
ICOs in particular caught the attention of regulators after Bitcoin surged to almost ,000 towards the end of last year. Other, smaller cryptocurrencies have also attracted a large numbers of investors, which bring the total fundraising amount so far this year to around billion, according to estimates from data analysis firm Autonomous Next.
Davidson’s bill will be the first of its kind in Congress, and it seems as though he understands that the wrong kind of regulation will likely stifle industry growth and development.
As noted, following last year’s cryptocurrency boom U.S. financial watchdogs have been attempting to balance consumer protection and innovation in the multi-billion dollar market. At the same time, many crypto industry leaders have complained that finance laws need to be updated to accommodate the complex new digital asset class.
Some legislators, like Brad Sherman, D-Calif., have been especially vocal about criminals abusing the anonymity permitted by some cryptocurrencies. He and others have also brought up the potential for terrorist financing and for skirting know your customer (KYC) laws, as well as money transmission standards that exist for fiat currencies.
That said, Pat Berarducci, a lawyer for blockchain software technology company ConsenSys who is attending Tuesday’s roundtable, claims that most industry participants want to achieve the same goals as regulators. He compared the fast-paced innovation and the legal uncertainty of today to the early dot-com years.
“There are a lot of regulators wanting the U.S. to develop ‘do no harm’ policies to allow innovation to grow, just like they did in the internet era,” Berarducci said.
A major fear within the industry is that if the U.S. cracks down too hard, startups will move to less restrictive jurisdictions like Switzerland and Malta.
“Businesses and entrepreneurs are making decisions about where to locate and grow based on regulatory considerations,” Berarducci said. “Policymakers are trying to foster innovation [and] at the same time protect consumers.”
Image from Shutterstock
The post US Congress Holding Roundtable With Industry Insiders to Draft Growth Promoting Regulations appeared first on NewsBTC.
U.S. Lawmaker Hosting Crypto Roundtable to Discuss Regulatory Approach for Industry
The post U.S. Lawmaker Hosting Crypto Roundtable to Discuss Regulatory Approach for Industry appeared first on DCEBrief.
EU Commissioner to Host ‘High Level Roundtable’ on Cryptocurrencies
A European Union commissioner plans to hold a meeting of public and private sector stakeholders to discuss the impact of cryptocurrencies.
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