With worries about a currency war growing and bond yields collapsing, investors have reached for their usual haven of gold. Only this time it has a friend: bitcoin.
Browsing: Cryptocurrencies
The group behind the Facebook-backed libra digital currency has said it will ensure it meets privacy standards after data protection authorities raised concerns about its design.
Bitcoin climbed past the $11 000 level for the first time since mid-July to lead gains among the biggest cryptocurrencies, as risk assets across Asia tumbled on escalating trade war tensions.
As cryptocurrency prices tumbled across the board last year, venture capitalists focused their attention on the promise of the underlying technology. That, many said, was the smarter bet. Now, the tables have turned.
Regulators will need to “step up” to contain any dangers emanating from Facebook’s planned libra token, but shouldn’t attempt to crush the initiative, according to International Monetary Fund acting MD David Lipton.
Bitcoin slid below $10 000 just three weeks after surging above it for the first time in more than a year as US legislators expressed deep scepticism about the viability of cryptocurrencies.
The US congress holding hearings on Facebook’s plan for a possible digital coin suggests that the high-profile debut for libra was likely a public relations effort gone bad.
South African online payments provider PayFast is ditching bitcoin as a payment method, saying the cryptocurrency has several “limitations and design flaws that make it an impractical substitute for cash”.
Bitcoin slumped in another large weekend move after US President Donald Trump’s criticism of cryptocurrencies late last week put the focus back on this year’s jump in prices.
Facebook’s foray into digital currencies risks reversing gains in privacy and user sovereignty won by computer networking pioneers, according to one of the co-founders of ethereum.