Uncommon Knowledge
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
Crypto
Letitia James issues new warning
Following a recent $2 billion settlement with cryptocurrency companies, New York Attorney General Letitia James warned similar companies on Saturday to “play by the same rules.”
James announced on Monday she reached a $2 billion settlement with cryptocurrency companies in a move that will assist investors, including nearly 30,000 New Yorkers, to recoup losses over alleged fraud by the businesses.
Read more: Common Cryptocurrency Scams and How to Avoid Them
The settlement involved cryptocurrency businesses Genesis Global Capital, Genesis Asia Pacific PTE and Genesis Global Holdco as James’ office accused them of hiding more than a billion dollars in losses from investors. Earlier this year, the case widened to allege that Digital Currency Group and Genesis, along with their top executives, defrauded investors of $2 billion.
As part of the settlement, the companies will be barred from continuing to operate in the state and create a victims’ fund that will provide some money back to investors after creditors are paid.
“When investors suffer losses because of fraud and manipulation, they deserve to be made whole,” James said in a statement. “We see the real-world consequences and detrimental losses that can happen because of a lack of oversight and regulation within the cryptocurrency industry. New York investors deserve the peace of mind that comes from a properly regulated marketplace.”
Read more: Best Cryptocurrency to Invest In Now
In a Saturday morning post to X, formerly Twitter, James reiterated her efforts around regulating the cryptocurrency industry and wrote, “Crypto companies must play by the same rules as everyone else. We will go after those that don’t.”
Newsweek has reached out to James’ office and Genesis via email for comment.
According to the attorney general’s office, the recent settlement continues James’ effort to “increase oversight and regulation in this industry and protect New York investors, which has secured more than $2.5 billion from predatory cryptocurrency platforms to date.”
Andrew Lichtenstein/Corbis/Getty Images
This follows last year’s proposed legislation to tighten regulations on the cryptocurrency industry, which James announced in May 2023. The bill would increase transparency, eliminate conflicts of interest, and impose commonsense measures to protect investors, consistent with regulations imposed on other financial services.
Read more: Bitcoin, Ethereum and Tether Price Predictions
The bill would also require independent public audits of cryptocurrency exchanges and prevent individuals from owning the same companies, such as brokerages and tokens, to stop conflicts of interest.
In addition to the warning to cryptocurrency companies, James is also urging New Yorkers who have been affected by deceptive conduct in the cryptocurrency industry to report these issues to her office and encourages workers in the industry who may have witnessed misconduct or fraud to file an anonymous whistleblower complaint with her office.
However, the settlement is contingent upon approval from the bankruptcy court. Genesis has not accepted guilt.
“Under this settlement, Genesis neither admits nor denies the allegations of this lawsuit, and the suit will continue against the remaining defendants, as well as Genesis’ former business partner, Gemini Trust Company, LLC,” James’ office said.
In a previous statement to Newsweek, a Genesis spokesperson said the company would not comment beyond the settlement, but has been focused on “maximizing value for all creditors.”
“Our goal throughout this process has been to maximize value for all creditors, and we are gratified that the court approved both our Plan and the NYAG settlement agreement. We look forward to putting the Plan into effect and making distributions as expeditiously as possible,” Derar Islim, interim CEO of Genesis, said in the statement.
In addition, the company also said in its statement that creditors will compensated “in the form of the original assets they loaned as much as possible, rather than being limited to the USD value of the cryptocurrency assets as of the petition date and converting these into cash or other forms of repayment that might not reflect the current or future value of the cryptocurrency assets.”
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
Key Points
-
Bitcoin’s most important features probably won’t change much between now and 2036.
-
XRP’s feature set will need to change and expand considerably during the same period if it’s going to flourish.
-
Both coins could be good investments.
- 10 stocks we like better than Bitcoin ›
Bitcoin (CRYPTO: BTC) and XRP (CRYPTO: XRP) aren’t trying to win in the same game. One is competing to be the store of value asset that people trust when governments are printing money. The other is vying to be useful plumbing inside institutional financial workflows.
During the next 10 years, those two assets are thus likely to perform very differently. Let’s examine the case for buying and holding each of them, and figure out which one is better.
Will AI create the world’s first trillionaire? Our team just released a report on the one little-known company, called an “Indispensable Monopoly” providing the critical technology Nvidia and Intel both need. Continue »
Image source: Getty Images.
Bitcoin doesn’t need to change much to succeed
Bitcoin is one of the few cryptocurrencies that has survived for more than 10 years. Its odds of surviving the next 10 years are quite high, because the features that made it a good investment in the past are still operating on behalf of holders.
Specifically, Bitcoin’s supply is as constrained as ever. New coin issuance is cut in half on a regular schedule, and the supply is capped at 21 million coins (about 20 million already are in circulation). That isn’t going to change, which means as long as there is at least some demand, its price is biased to the upside over the long term. Its legacy as a store of value, while still in its infancy, is more likely to consolidate than peter out as time passes.
Furthermore, Bitcoin is the largest cryptocurrency by market cap, with a majority share of total crypto market value, which means it’s the default yardstick for the whole sector. Owning Bitcoin as part of a balanced crypto portfolio is thus a bet that its prominence and dominance will stay intact even in the event of some future ugly years, just as it did in the past.
Of course, that didn’t stop holders from experiencing downturns of 80% or more, but Bitcoin’s price can fluctuate tremendously without compromising the coin’s investment thesis.
XRP’s moat isn’t as large
For XRP to win during the next 10 years as it did during the past 10 years, there will need to be wider adoption of the XRP Ledger (XRPL) across three axes: as a payments and settlement network, as a tokenized asset management platform, and as a set of financial tools for institutional investors and traders. It’s making credible inroads in those arenas, and it will likely succeed in at least one of them.
But compared to Bitcoin, the trouble with XRP is that it simply has a lot of competition in all three of those verticals today, and there will probably be even more competition in the near future and beyond. The coin could thus bid to become the future of cryptocurrency, only to lose later on when other players encroach on its turf.
That makes it hard to believe that XRP can see its price rise smoothly without continuously winning at least some of its many competitive fights over time — and continuous execution is a very high bar to clear during a 10-year time span.
So, Bitcoin is the better cryptocurrency to invest in if you’re willing to hold it for a long time. XRP isn’t a bad pick. It’s just that it will have to face and overcome many difficult obstacles, while Bitcoin simply doesn’t need to.
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Alex Carchidi has positions in Bitcoin. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Bitcoin and XRP. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.
The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.
Both these assets have earned their place as leaders, but the next 10 years could be tough for one of them.
Bitcoin (BTC +3.22%) and XRP (XRP +6.34%) aren’t trying to win in the same game. One is competing to be the store of value asset that people trust when governments are printing money. The other is vying to be useful plumbing inside institutional financial workflows.
During the next 10 years, those two assets are thus likely to perform very differently. Let’s examine the case for buying and holding each of them, and figure out which one is better.
Image source: Getty Images.
Bitcoin doesn’t need to change much to succeed
Bitcoin is one of the few cryptocurrencies that has survived for more than 10 years. Its odds of surviving the next 10 years are quite high, because the features that made it a good investment in the past are still operating on behalf of holders.
Specifically, Bitcoin’s supply is as constrained as ever. New coin issuance is cut in half on a regular schedule, and the supply is capped at 21 million coins (about 20 million already are in circulation). That isn’t going to change, which means as long as there is at least some demand, its price is biased to the upside over the long term. Its legacy as a store of value, while still in its infancy, is more likely to consolidate than peter out as time passes.
Today’s Change
(3.22%) $2168.69
Current Price
$69455.00
Market Cap $1.4T
Day’s Range
$67217.00 – $70434.00
52wk Range
$60255.56 – $126079.89 Volume
46B
Key Data Points
Furthermore, Bitcoin is the largest cryptocurrency by market cap, with a majority share of total crypto market value, which means it’s the default yardstick for the whole sector. Owning Bitcoin as part of a balanced crypto portfolio is thus a bet that its prominence and dominance will stay intact even in the event of some future ugly years, just as it did in the past.
Of course, that didn’t stop holders from experiencing downturns of 80% or more, but Bitcoin’s price can fluctuate tremendously without compromising the coin’s investment thesis.
XRP’s moat isn’t as large
For XRP to win during the next 10 years as it did during the past 10 years, there will need to be wider adoption of the XRP Ledger (XRPL) across three axes: as a payments and settlement network, as a tokenized asset management platform, and as a set of financial tools for institutional investors and traders. It’s making credible inroads in those arenas, and it will likely succeed in at least one of them.
Today’s Change
(6.34%) $0.09
Current Price
$1.46
Key Data Points
Market Cap
$89B
Day’s Range
$1.37 – $1.47
52wk Range
$1.14 – $3.65
Volume
2.6B
But compared to Bitcoin, the trouble with XRP is that it simply has a lot of competition in all three of those verticals today, and there will probably be even more competition in the near future and beyond. The coin could thus bid to become the future of cryptocurrency, only to lose later on when other players encroach on its turf.
That makes it hard to believe that XRP can see its price rise smoothly without continuously winning at least some of its many competitive fights over time — and continuous execution is a very high bar to clear during a 10-year time span.
So, Bitcoin is the better cryptocurrency to invest in if you’re willing to hold it for a long time. XRP isn’t a bad pick. It’s just that it will have to face and overcome many difficult obstacles, while Bitcoin simply doesn’t need to.
WASHINGTON (7News) — Recent positive economic indicators have come out like a lower-than-expected January inflation rate and a strong jobs report. Financial expert Ric Edelman explained the resilience of the economy and what’s going on with cryptocurrency.
“It’s proving to be surprisingly resilient. The jobs data was very good that just came out, unemployment rate remains low. Interest rates are stable and hopefully coming down. Overall, consumer prices are doing okay as well,” said Eldelman.
RELATED | Job growth beats forecast. Is the economy rebounding?
“A lot of folks have been widely fearing a recession. It doesn’t seem to be in sight at any moment, but there are continuing concerns: the tariffs, global economics. And in fact, if you look closely at the jobs data, almost all the jobs created in this last report were in the healthcare sector, which doesn’t spell well for the overall economy, just that one sector. So there is some weakness, and this is why investors remain a little bit nervous,” said Eldelman.
Younger Americans are buying Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies, seeing it as a path to the American dream.
“This particular crypto winter, as it’s called. It’s the ninth time Bitcoin has fallen this much. Came out of nowhere, and it surprised everybody, including me,” said Eldelman.
“We basically are seeing a tale of two cities. On the one hand, prices are down dramatically over the past couple of months. They may fall even further yet. But if you look beyond the numbers at the fundamental growth and development of the technology, it’s all looking really very exciting.”
For investors, Eldelman had the following advice:
This is a period of extreme uncertainty… And for that reason, you should do two things. Number one, continue invest slowly but steadily. In other words, not a single lump sum, but invest a little bit every month on a regular basis. And second, stay focused on 10 years from now, not 10 days from now.
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Financial expert Ric Edelman has the latest economic outlook (7News).{ }
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