At the beginning of this week, the cryptocurrency market tried to grow but then a correction began, during which most key currencies lost their previously won positions. Currently, Bitcoin is trading at 9050.00 (–1.6%), Ethereum is at 182.00 (+1.4%), Ripple is at 0.2750 (–5.0%), Bitcoin Cash is at 282.00 (–1.3%), Tether – around 1.0010 (–0.3%). The total market capitalization grew from $247 billion to $249 billion. Bitcoin’s market share fluctuated around 67%.
Most of the news was related to state digital currencies, the development of which many countries began to develop after the announcement of plans to launch the Libra project. The representative of the People’s Bank of China Mu Changchun said that the creation of a new state asset is not aimed at changing the monetary policy of China. Ultimately, the regulator intends to replace paper money with digital ones, while digital currency holders will not receive any interest payments. The creation of a digital lira was announced by the Turkish authorities. President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said that the asset testing and the creation of a network for processing transactions will be completed by the end of 2020. As a result, Turkey’s financial sector should become more stable. The European Central Bank may also soon issue its electronic asset. It is stated in documents prepared by experts of the regulator. The European token should be a response to the spread of Bitcoin and the possible launch of Libra. It is known that Germany and France are opposed to the new currency, however, the issue of its creation will be discussed by the EU finance ministers today.
The Libra project was also not forgotten. The International Organization of Securities Commissions (IOSCO), which includes representatives from the United States, the EU, and Japan, has stated that stablecoins, including Libra, should be regulated as securities using its respective requirements for creation, sale, and registration. One of the developers of Ethereum Joseph Lubin in an interview with CNBC, noted that the Libra currency should not be controlled by the giant Facebook, as it has privacy problems. Also, the authors of the project should start with the introduction of the asset in certain regions and small countries and only then go to the level of the USA and the EU.
Chinese authorities have announced that they will no longer limit the mining of crypto assets, which has been excluded from the list of undesirable activities. The US Congress is considering a bill under which control over cryptocurrency derivatives will be transferred to the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC). The developers of the Ethereum blockchain set a launch date for the Berlin update for June 2020. It will be a continuation of the overall process of network development and should expand the scalability.
Next week, the cryptocurrency market may stabilize or try to grow again.
