Executives at Major Russian Bank: Russia’s Interest in Bitcoin is Overblown

Riccardo Orcel, the head of Russian bank VTB International, believes the Russian government’s interest in Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies are overestimated by the media.

Throughout October, Russia was said to have planned regulatory frameworks for cryptocurrencies, provide an efficient ecosystem for Bitcoin mining, and even launch its own cryptocurrency called CryptoRuble. Earlier this year, Russian President Vladimir Putin also met Vitalik Buterin, the co-founder of Ethereum, to discuss the potential of Ethereum network and smart contracts in major industries.

But, Orcel, the head of a leading bank and financial institution in Russia, stated in an interview with CNBC that the Russian government’s interest in the Bitcoin and cryptocurrency markets are overblown by media. He explained:

"There was some speculation that there was some buying coming from Russian investors, but more than these reports, as a bank, we have not seen much in terms of flows. There was some interest reported in the press but I've not seen in Russia a lot of interest in Bitcoin, to be honest. Clearly fintech (financial technology) is the future for the banking industry. For a country of the size of Russia, clearly having branches around the entire country is just not possible and fintech is the future.”

Orcel’s affirmation on the hype around the Russian Bitcoin and cryptocurrency markets is valid, as cryptocurrency trading has not even been legalized or regulated within the country as of yet. However, analysts are still optimistic Russia could evolve into the next cryptocurrency powerhouse, if it manages to regulate the Russian cryptocurrency sector with efficient and practical policies.

Andrey Kostin, president and CEO of VTB Bank, said that the interest and demand for Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies are increasing at a rapid rate. Kostin expressed his concerns over the lack of regulations in the Russian Bitcoin sector, given that the demand from general consumers and institutional investors in the region has been growing exponentially.

"We see a lot of high speculation factor in cryptocurrencies and I think it's dangerous. Until the governments decide how to regulate this area I think it will be very, very dangerous for investors to invest in cryptocurrencies,” said Kostin.

Particularly, analysts remain certain that the Russian cryptocurrency sector will evolve into a major market in the upcoming years because President Putin had emphasized in an official statement released by the Kremlin that the Russian central bank will follow the footsteps of other regions such as Japan to release necessary regulations for Bitcoin and cryptocurrency trading platforms.

On October 10, President Putin stated:

"As is known, many countries are looking for ways of regulating the circulation of cryptocurrencies and are beginning to create the necessary legislative framework, a legislative regulatory system. We need – based on international experience – to build a regulatory environment that will make it possible to codify relations in this sphere, reliably protect the interests of citizens, businesses and the state and provide legal guarantees for using innovative financial instruments.”

Source bitconnect

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Jeff Garzik Is Launching A Cross Chain ICO Called Metronome

Jeff Garzik has been something of a controversial figure in the Blockchain and Bitcoin space over the last twelve months. He was one of the first Bitcoin developers to take on an active paid role at a blockchain startup and he's since become an active proponent of the Segwit2X event and has become renowned for taking on any denouncers as part of heated Twitter arguments via his personal account.

Anyway, the latest news is that Garzik has decided that he's going to launch a fresh startup and he's going to do it by way of an initial coin offering (ICO).

The new venture is called Metronome and it's reportedly going to aim to allow cryptocurrency users and holders to jump between blockchains.

This is one of those things that has long been discussed as a potential answer to some of the shortfalls of the digital currency space but – until now – nobody has really taken action to get it into the real world. With Metronome, Garza is reportedly trying to do just that. The process will involve what he calls a 'proof of exit receipt', which serves as a sort of confirmation type item that a user has left one blockchain for another.

The announcement came at the Money 20.20 event that's currently ongoing in Las Vegas and that will wrap up today.

Here's what Matthew Roszak, co-founder of Bloq and chairman of industry advocate Chamber of Digital Commerce, had to say about the fresh development:

"Institutional investors should be very excited to see something like this, we’ve built a thousand-year cryptocurrency, something that’s built to last.”

And here's what Garzik himself said about the new venture:

"If I had a clean slate of paper this is what I would design.”

No doubt this event will cause some controversy in the space, not least because of its time (right ahead of the forking).

Let's see how things play out.

Source bitconnect

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Bitcoin $10,000 Within 10 Months Said Ex Fortress Manager Novogratz

Mention the name Michael Novogratz in financial circles associated with more traditional assets and you'll hear a couple of things – Fortress, Goldman Sachs, perhaps the US National Guard.

Mention him this week, however, and the word you will hear is cryptocurrency.

Novogratz just appeared on CNBC's Fast Money to give an interview with presenter Melissa Less and the focus of the interview was a fund he is in the progress of raising, dedicated to the cryptocurrency space.

According to the interview, Novogratzis is fronting $150 million of his own money and is seeking to raise up to $500 million, with the goal being to spread across the Bitcoin and Blockchain ecosphere. A couple of key points were raised with regards to both his approach and his expectations going forward.

First, he noted that, he first started investing in Bitcoin and Blockchain while he was at Fortress and his intentions with the new fund is to take a similar approach to that which he took then – spread relatively evenly across the major assets in the space (Bitcoin, Ethereum) and then dabble in the more speculative elements.

This approach, he says, is rooted in the fact that he doesn't feel he is smart enough to pick the winners in the space but that he feels the space as a whole is on the up, so by diversifying he takes home an exposure to growth regardless of which asset wins out.

He also noted that he now sees Bitcoin as a store of value and is the bellwether of the space (which is obviously correct) and that, over the next 20 years, Blockchain is going to revolutionize the way we live – again something that the space has been saying for some time now.

From a bitcoin price perspective, he expects up to $10,000 within the next 6 to 10 months.

Novogratz's net worth is estimated to be around $1.5 billion.

Source bitconnect

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Russia Is Issuing Its Own Cryptocurrency – The CryptoRuble

The adoption of cryptocurrency in Russia has been the subject of heated debate over the last few weeks, with a variety of contrasting reports hitting press. This week, however, it finally looks as though we have some clarity and situation and the news is positive – Russia is officially creating its own cryptocurrency.

The currency, reported to be called CryptoRuble, is in the works and is going to be issued quickly and in very near term.

According to reports, Vladimir Putin had a meeting with some of his top economic advisers and decision was made in an attempt to help Russia get ahead (and stay ahead) of its neighboring countries in Europe.

Russia’s Minister of Communications and Mass Media, Nikolay Nikiforov, said this about the implementation:

"I so confidently declare that we will [soon] launch a cryptocurrency for one simple reason: If we do not, then in 2 months, our neighbors in the Eurasian Economic Community will do it."

The idea is to allow Russian nationals to pay their tax in Cryptoruble, with rates falling in line with the nations existing tax framework. The Russian tax system dictates that everybody must pay 13% on income and, once the Cryptoruble is in place, this 13% will be applicable to the virtual currency just as it would be fiat.

The above-mentioned Nikiforov also had this to say on the tax implications of the currency:

"When buying and selling a cryptoruble, the amount will be 13% from the earned difference…If the owner cannot explain the reason for the appearance of his cryptorubles, when converting them into Russian rubles, the tax for him will be 13% of the total."

As a final note, the Russian government has been quick to point out that the creation of this currency does not translate to the legalization of bitcoin and other currencies. CryptoRuble is going to use Russian cryptography as opposed to the existing cryptographic methods that underpin bitcoin and others.

Source bitconnect

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Julian Assange Reported of 50,000% Gain On His Bitcoin Investment

Julian Assange Just Reported 50,000% Gain On His Bitcoin Investment

At the start this week, WikiLeaks found Julian Assange published the following tweet to his personal Twitter account:

"My deepest thanks to the US government, Senator McCain and Senator Lieberman for pushing Visa, MasterCard, Paypal, AmEx, Moneybookers, et al, into erecting an illegal banking blockade against @WikiLeaks starting in 2010. It caused us to invest in Bitcoin -- with > 50000% return."

The Tweet was published alongside a screenshot of the CoinDesk bitcoin price chart, with the chart spanning the period from July 2001 to October 14, 2017 – a period across which the price of Bitcoin has risen from just $0.06 to current prices in and around $5,800, or a total percentage increase of more than 9 million points.

The situation that underlies the Tweet is relatively simple. Back at the turn of the decade, the US government (as well as a consortium of other policymaking entities) forced big name financial entities like Visa and MasterCard to block services for the WikiLeaks Foundation. This made it incredibly difficult for the latter to receive and store funding which, in turn, led the entity to search for alternative financing methods.

This search just so happened to coincide with the introduction of Bitcoin as an asset that was (relatively) freely tradeable. Sure, the infrastructure that was in place then was nothing like it is today and sure, storing and sending funds was a little more complicated back then, but the capability was there for anyone who knew what they were doing and, as it turned out, Bitcoin offered a solution to the WikiLeaks problem.

Fast forward seven years and the latter is sitting on a more than 50,000% return on the investment it made back at the start of this decade, having been forced into the making said investment by the very authorities that were trying to push it out of operation.

Source bitconnect

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