Flash: What are your superpowers again?
Batman: I’m rich.
Nope, this ain’t any Justice League fan-sourced article. But, if the same conversation would have been true in today’s real world scenario, the phrase could be largely rephrased as:
I got Bitcoins!
And why not? Bitcoin has become the leading cryptocurrency by hitting $7,450 valuation per unit.
Reportedly this week, the cryptocurrency market capital has hit the $200 Bn mark, it is getting even stronger with every passing day. Originally led by Bitcoins which accounts for $120 Bn, the ‘bubble’, as called by the magnitude.
While the largest e-commerce giant Amazon and world’s largest secondhand exchange CME group are in a process to accept cryptocurrency transactions and contracts, in India, Economic Times has reported from the unknown government sources that Interdisciplinary committee on virtual currency has sought a complete ban on cryptocurrency.
The Interdisciplinary committee’s report on cryptocurrency submitted three months back, has sought a complete ban on cryptocurrency.
-reports ET citing unknown government sources.
The board has recommended the Indian government to shut down the entire cryptocurrency trading operations in India.
While leading countries like Japan, Australia and South Korea have already legitimised cryptocurrencies, either as an asset or currency, India appears to be interested to go the China way regarding cryptocurrencies, which has already banned and shut down cryptocurrency exchanges in the Mainland; Hong Kong being one exception.
Countries like Russia have already announced to launch their own command cryptocurrencies. In India, amidst no official release yet, the state has suddenly gone into stealth mode on the moderation of BitCoins.
But, the question that still remains is:
Does any government across the world have the capability to stay away from Bitcoins or cryptocurrencies?
Sanjay Mehta, an Angel Investor who has also invested in various cryptocurrency-based startups says:
Perhaps the government is still waiting for other countries to come up with their own regulations which the Indian government could simply copy.
The costliest currency in the world, Bitcoin is getting costlier every passing day. On November 3, the leading cryptocurrency’s price surged up by $400 within 24 hours, hitting $7,450.
For the foregoing 12 months, Bitcoin price has gone up by manifolds, making Satoshi Nakamoto, Bitcoin founder who owns 980K Bitcoins richer on Forbe’s rich list. Considering Bitcoin’s price at $7,500, Satoshi will be the 183rd richest person in the world, a place right after Sunil Bharati Mittal.
Following the ride, leading cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase has added more than 100K users within 24 hours. The company avers that the number of Coinbase users has doubled since the beginning of the year.
According to analysts:
The unprecedented price surge has come following positive news from Amazon and CME Group regarding cryptocurrency.
The Japanese market has led the way on the global scale followed by USD-based trading markets and South Korea, with over $3.5 Bn in bitcoin value flowing among the three markets over a 24-hour period, reports Cryptocoins News.
Credit Suisse CEO Tidjane Thiam commented in a conference:
From what we can identify, the only reason today to buy or sell bitcoin is to make money, which is the very definition of speculation and the very definition of a bubble.
Currently, at the time of inscribing this report, Bitcoin was swapping at $7,211.
The world’s largest derivative exchange/marketplace US-based CME Group has announced to launch bitcoin futures in the fourth quarter of 2017, pending all relevant regulatory review periods.
According to the company’s official statement:
The new contract will be cash-settled, based on the CME CF Bitcoin Reference Rate (BRR) which will serve as a once-a-day reference rate of the US dollar price of bitcoin.
Bitcoin futures will be listed on and subject to the rules of CME.
Terry Duffy, CME Group Chairman and CEO also thus asserted:
Given increasing client interest in the evolving cryptocurrency markets, we have decided to introduce a bitcoin futures contract. As the world’s largest organized FX marketplace, CME Group is the natural home for this new vehicle that will provide investors with transparency, price discovery and risk transfer capabilities.
