Russia is moving towards regulations for cryptocurrencies and ICOs, and Overstock.com just announced their own ICO plans. Here are the cryptocurrency highlights of week 43:
- Russian President Vladimir Putin has personally approved a timeline for a framework that will regulate initial coin offerings (ICO) and cryptocurrency mining operations. According to official Kremlin documents published this week, Putin signed several orders intended to regulate cryptocurrency usage within the country. Most notably, the orders mandated that Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev and central bank chief Elvira Nabiullina must draft regulations that bring ICOs in line with existing laws governing securities.
- Overstock.com subsidiary tØ has formally announced an initial coin offering (ICO), set to begin next month. Debuted at the Money2020 conference in Las Vegas, the ICO will be facilitated via the sale of Simple Agreements for Future Tokens (SAFTs), a model that was previously used in token sales like the one for filecoin, which raised more than $200 million. The tZERO token, according to statements, will trade on the alternative trading system (ATS) being developed by the firm.
- A Michigan man has been charged with running an unlicensed money transmitting business after selling nearly $150,000 in bitcoin online. According to an indictment released by Detroit TV news services WD-IV Friday, 52-year-old Bradley Anthony Stetkiw ran an exchange through the LocalBitcoins website, conducting transactions at restaurants in the Bloomfield area. Stetkiw is alleged to have sold bitcoin as part of a business venture for approximately two years, at a volume that would make him subject to federal anti-money laundering regulations.
- Billionaire investor Warren Buffett has claimed that the market for the leading virtual currency Bitcoin is already in bubble territory. He also issued a criticism of the proposals for applying a value to the cryptocurrency. Based on a report by MarketWatch, Buffett presented his views on Bitcoin and the cryptocurrency market during an annual question-and-answer session in Omaha, Nebraska in early October 2017. During his remarks, Buffett claimed that Bitcoin is a “real bubble.”
- Compared to the previous week the price of Bitcoin has decreased by more than 5 percent, with the exchange rate currently at about $5,726 per BTC. The price of Ethereum was stable over the same period, with Ether trading at a rate of $297 per ETH. Ethereum Classic lost about 4 percent, with the price decreasing to $10.41 per ETC. Zcash gained 12 percent. One ZEC is now trading at roughly $236 per coin.
