US Treasury Secretary Mnuchin Thinks Outlook for Bitcoin Is Bleak

U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin commented on cryptocurrency’s future viability, in an interview on Wednesday. “I can assure you I will personally not be loaded up on bitcoin in 10 years,” Mnuchin said on CNBC’s Squawk Box. “I would bet even in five to six years I won’t even be talking about bitcoin as Treasury Secretary.” While Mnuchin’s comments today do not elucidate his specific regulatory policies, he said previously that cryptocurrencies pose “risk to the financial system” if misused like Swiss bank accounts.

Bitcoin: ABC Correction Pointing Towards $8,500

A a ratio of 0.12 bitcoin for one ounce of gold, gold seems pretty undervalued. Bitcoin (BTC-USD) had a spectacular rally between April and June. Now it has pulled back sharply. Investors and the so-called "hodlers" are getting their emotions tested once again by the volatile cryptocurrency. In this analysis we will explain why this correction is no surprise and will figure out where the lows might come in and how you can profit from that.

Facebook is backpedaling from its ambitious vision for Libra

David Marcus, the head of Facebook's new Calibra payments division, appeared before two hostile congressional committees this week with a simple message: Facebook knows policymakers are concerned about Libra, and Facebook won't move forward with the project until their concerns are addressed. While he didn't say so explicitly, Marcus' comments at hearings on Tuesday and Wednesday represented a dramatic shift in Facebook's conception of Libra. In Facebook's original vision, Libra would be an open and largely decentralized network, akin to Bitcoin. The core network would be beyond the reach of regulators. Regulatory compliance would be the responsibility of exchanges, wallets, and other services that are the "on ramps and off ramps" to the Libra ecosystem.

John McAfee Doubles Down on $1M 2020 Price Prediction for Bitcoin

American entrepreneur and vocal crypto advocate John McAfee has doubled down on his $1 million by 2020 prediction for Bitcoin (BTC). Taking stock of community sentiment in light of Bitcoin’s recent price fluctuations, McAfee wrote on July 15 that he was “laughing his f------ ass off” at the seemingly overblown negativity: “Bitcoin is at the mid 10's and people worry. LMFAO!! Why do you pay attention to weekly fluctuations? Look at the past few months FFS! It's rising drastically. I'm still positive about my $1 mil BTC price by the end of 2020. Alt coins like MTC and Apollo will rise ten times more.”

New ECB Boss Christine Lagarde Made A Serious Bitcoin Warning

Bitcoin and other crypto-assets have long divided traditional economists and bankers with some warning over their instability and others praising their ingenuity. The bitcoin price rebound so far this year has caused some to change sides, though many continue to warn bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies will be a mere flash in the pan. Earlier this year, Christine Lagarde, who has just been nominated to replace Mario Draghi as president of the European Central Bank (ECB), warned that cryptocurrencies are "shaking the system"—something that could signal a change in the ECB's approach to bitcoin and crypto and potentially spur adoption.

Self-Proclaimed Bitcoin Inventor Says Fortune Inaccessible

Craig Wright, the Australian scientist who claims he created Bitcoin, said at a federal court hearing in West Palm Beach, Florida, that he can’t comply with an order to produce a list of all his early Bitcoin addresses, and may not even be ever able to access the coins. Wright is defending himself against charges that he stole Bitcoins and intellectual property worth billions from a late business partner. The case could potentially help shed light on whether he really is Satoshi Nakamoto -- something that many in the cryptocurrency community doubt.

Bitcoin plunges $3,000 in less than 24 hours, showing its volatility once again

Bitcoin cratered Thursday, living up to its volatile reputation after hitting a 17-month high a day earlier. The world’s most widely traded cryptocurrency dropped to a low of $10,373.75 Thursday afternoon — a roughly $3,000 drop from where it was trading Wednesday. Bitcoin had rallied to a high of $13,485.85 Wednesday afternoon, its highest price since January 2018, according to industry site CoinDesk. It then fell sharply after U.S. markets closed. The cryptocurrency was trading around $10,823 by 3:30 p.m. ET.  The steep decline came at the same time as an outage on popular cryptocurrency trading platform Coinbase. A Coinbase spokesperson told CNBC the site was down “for a short period of time due to high volume.”

Goldman Sachs ‘Looking at Potential’ of Creating Virtual Currency, CEO Reveals

Goldman Sachs is performing “extensive research” on tokenization, the group’s chief executive told France’s Les Echos newspaper on June 27. David Solomon said he believes global payment systems are heading in the direction of stablecoins — cryptocurrencies pegged to fiat assets such as the U.S. dollar. Although he stopped short of confirming whether Goldman Sachs has had discussions with Facebook about its upcoming libra cryptocurrency and Calibra wallet, Solomon said his corporation finds the concept “interesting.”

The Senate will hold a hearing next month on Facebook’s Libra currency

On Wednesday, the Senate Banking Committee announced it will be holding a hearing next month to question witnesses over Facebook’s new cryptocurrency initiative, Libra. The hearing, entitled “Examining Facebook’s Proposed Digital Currency and Data Privacy Considerations,” is set for July 16th at 10AM ET. The plans come shortly after Facebook formally announced its new cryptocurrency and blockchain ecosystem, Libra. Facebook’s plan was met with harsh criticism from lawmakers, as well as calls for investigation into the potential consumer risks. It’s unclear who all will be testifying, but sources tell The Verge David Marcus, co-creator of Libra and Calibra lead, will be in attendance.

Bitcoin price hits 1-year high on boost from Facebook's Libra plan

The digital currency project Facebook detailed on Tuesday will take up to a year to become publicly available and two to five years to be judged a success or failure. But even before it became official, the project, known as Libra, has been able to do what seemed impossible: Drag the price of bitcoin out of the doldrums and to a one-year high. Since March, the value of bitcoin, the best-known virtual currency, has nearly tripled. It hit a high of $9,469 in the evening of June 17 -- hours before Facebook revealed a white paper detailing Libra, its cryptocurrency project.