Bitcoin recently rallied up to 30% hitting a new 40-day high last week. This has lead Nolan Bauerle, CoinDesk Director of Research to suggest that the digital currency will continue to stay strong and ahead of other heavyweights in the industry like Ethereum and Ripple despite several slumps in recent weeks. The top brass digital currency has endured a tough period after banks and financial officials faced several calls to regulate the cryptocurrency exchange which saw its value fall from a staggering 20,000 USD to 9,000 USD in crypto markets.
Recent Criticism on Bitcoin
Bitcoin has faced criticism recently with a host of finance experts airing their views. Banking magnate Morgan Stanley likened the market system to the dot-com bubble particularly during its most “exuberant” era increased by 250 to 280%.
San Francisco’s, Federal Reserve Bank Head, John Williams, said:
“There are many issues with BTC.” “The institutional arrangement surrounding BTC and other virtual currencies, have issues with fraud, money laundering, and terror financing.”
PayPal’s former CEO, Bill Harris weighed in on the debate:
“BTC is the biggest scam in our history. Because it doesn’t have store value, hence it shouldn’t be accepted as a payment option.”
Stricter Measures for Virtual Currencies
The European Parliament voted in favour of a more stringent regulation against the use of virtual currencies (including the likes of Bitcoin, Ethereum and Ripple) in funding terrorism and money laundering. It also supported a bill previously passed to ensure that exchanges are forced to register with the relevant authorities. This move is only the start of several clamp-downs from huge economies who worry about the potential of crypto.
A statement by the CEO of Nasdaq, Adena Friedman, floated the idea of the startup becoming a cryptocurrency exchange.
The initiative has been received warmly with one industry expert saying:
“If Blockchain and crypto markets truly want to draw institutional investors, they need to work with established exchanges who are looking to build their ICO, whilst maintaining their practices from the market.”
