Ep15: Weekly Cryptocurrency News 11/07/18

Consensus Network Weekly Crypto News November 7th, 2018 Cryptocurrency Market Capitalization: $220 billion Bitcoin Price (Coinbase): $6510 The News: SEC to Publish ICO Guidance: A high ranking official at the SEC, William Hinman announced last week that the SEC is planning to publish clearer guidance regarding ICOs. "If someone's offering an instrument for money or other consideration to a third party, and that third party expects the offerer to generate a return or something that will increase the value of the coin or token…and there's expectation of return, we're generally going to see that as a securities offering."  Clear? Not to me.  Hinman also said ethereum is not a security because is is sufficiently decentralized. In other words, there are not enough whales to victimize retail owners of ethererum. Can you say the same of bitcoin? I'm not sure. There is only about $3 million circulating bitcoin and the rest are with HODLRs. The ICO issue is confusing but it's very important to get this sorted out quickly. Many blockchain projects are leaving the US or leaving out US investors because they fear the wrath of the SEC. That's not good for our country in terms of positioning and profiting from this new technology. Apple Censors Bitcoin Podcast Apple iTunes apparently censored the Crypto focused podcast "Off the Chain" by Anthony Pompliano after posting an interview with bitcoin maximalist, Murad Mahmudov. I actually follow both his podcast and apparently it just came back on it's own after a day of CryptoTwitter making a big deal of it. If it's true, I have to say that it's sort of shocking considering the crap that iTunes does allow. There are a ton of horrible crypto podcasts out there which have actually done real financial damage to people. Pompliano's podcast is actually serious and legitimate so censoring it is sort of ridiculous. That said, blockchain is an existential threat to iTunes and the Apple Store so perhaps that had something to do with it? Jamie Dixon LOVES Bitcoin:: Jamie Dimon, CEO of JP Morgan Chase says that bitcoin is a fraud and says he doesn't "give a shit" about it. Meanwhile, blockchain development has become a major effort of the bank and they clearly see that this is an existential threat to their existence. Meanwhile, a former JP Morgan trader pleaded guilty this week of manipulating the US metals market for years. John Edmonds, the manipulator, worked for JP Morgan for 13 years and said his supervisors were aware of his actions. Of course the main sticking point of the SEC on allowing a bitcoin ETF is that the bitcoin markets are easily manipulated. More bank and government hypocrisy. Surprise surprise! Bitcoin Wins Midterm Election: The midterm election results weren't terribly surprising yesterday. The Democrats took the house and the Republicans took the senate. That just means that our national news will further resemble a reality Television show for the next couple of years as the democrats now have subpoena power over the president. But one thing that was of note for us bitcoin enthusiasts is that a couple of bitcoin supporters got elected governor. In California, Gavin Newsom got elected comfortably. Newsom started accepting campaign donations in bitcoin as far back as 2014 when it was around $500.  In Colorado, democrat Jared Polis defeated Republican Walker Stapleton. Not only is Polis the first openly gay governor but has long been talking about the role of bitcoin and blockchain technology in his state's future. He says he want's to make Colorado the "hub" of all things crypto. I think Jared Polis is making a wise decision.