Ep. 34. Vitalik drops crypto truth bombs, Ellen explains bitcoin and the Brooklyn project

First up on today's show from CNBC, the US government is nowhere near regulating Bitcoin. Rob Joyce emphasised the need to better understand the cryptocurrencies and our team discuss how this has been greeted positively by the trader community especially. Next, Ellen Degeneres compares Bitcoin to a Goat (I know) to her rather large audience. Even though the price hasn't been as exciting for speculators recently, Bitcoin is still mainstream and won't go away! Back to regulation, Switzerland's FINMA has released ICO guidelines and in the US the CFTC Chief has said the states should tread lightly on Crypto exchanges. Keeping with ICO's, Telegram have raised $850 million so far for their billion dollar ICO. The mass frenzy has seen many keep a keen eye on Telegram, some with less positive sentiments. Charles Noyas of Pantera Capital wasn't keen on this massive ICO. He described the project's 132-page technical whitepaper as "essentially a wishlist of things they want to have, and how it will work assuming that their wishlist doesn't crash and burn." Damning to say the least... Vitalik Buterin the father of Ethereum has tweeted a warning to his followers stating that "traditional assets" are a safer place to hold your live savings. He caught quite a lot of hate in the comments, but is this the way more blockchain figureheads should be acting in the crypto space? Bitcoin is mainstream but it's position in asset classes is still not obvious. Divorce lawyers are finding this out the hard way and a UK based firm have claimed that they are dealing with multi-million dollar cases over centring around cryptocurrency assets. Moving on- are Atari about to have their Kodak moment? The game-makers who created Pacman are planning an ICO because..it's 2018? On to Bitcoin mining- with China cracking down, where is the best place to mine Bitcoin? Apparently Venezuela is the cheapest place to mine the cryptocurrency whereas South Korea was found to be the most expensive. Finally, we follow up on dark pools after last week's episode, as a $30 million ICO could pave way for huge crypto traders. As always there's so much news out there and we can't cover it all, so we had some stories we just couldn't squeeze in. These include: Ethereum Dev Yoichi Hirai Steps Away From Role As EIP Editor, Citi Bank and Credit Agricole buy a stake in SETL and R3 are training DLT lawyers. In today's episode we also bring you an interview with Patrick Berarducci and Matt Corva from Consensys about Brooklyn Project. Exciting stuff! We hope you enjoy the show and, as ever, don't forget to subscribe. Want to join the conversation on all the topics discussed? Tweet the show @bchaininsider and if you really love the show, why not leave us a review on iTunes? Special Guests: Matt Corva and Patrick Berarducci. Links: US government is nowhere close to regulating bitcoin, White House cybersecurity czar says Ellen DeGeneres on Bitcoin: It's 'Either Worth $20K or Nothing' CFTC Chief: US Should Tread Lightly on Crypto Exchanges Secretive messaging app Telegram is selling a $2 billion crypto dream — but skeptics smell a 'ploy' Ethereum founder warns cryptocurrencies 'could drop to near zero at any time' Divorcing couples may clash over Bitcoin Game Maker Atari Is Planning to Launch Its Own Cryptocurrency 🎮👾 With China Cracking Down, Where To Mine Bitcoin Instead? Into the Dark Pool: $30 Million ICO Could Pave Way for Huge Crypto Trades