The cryptocurrency market received some much-needed good news today when SEC Director of Corporate Finance William Hinman announced that bitcoin and Ether were not securities. Despite the good news, however, some bitcoin critics insist that cryptocurrencies like bitcoin will soon be worth zero.
Hinman made the comments at a Yahoo Finance event. Hinman specifically said that bitcoin and Ether were not securities in their current state. However, he seemed to suggest that Ethereum’s initial ICO – which took place in 2014 and accepted cash in exchange for ETH tokens – may have constituted a security sale.
Cryptocurrency markets jumped on the news. Bitcoin closed as low as $6,133 late Wednesday. Within hours of the SEC news, bitcoin’s price had bounced to as high as $6,651, a gain of 6.4% over a 24 hour period.
“Dr. Doom” Economist Who Predicted Collapse In US Housing Market Insists Bitcoin Will Be Worth $0
Turkish-born American economist Nourish Roubini has been called “Dr. Doom” by cryptocurrency users for his frequent predictions about the collapse of crypto.
Roubini has previously called bitcoin “the mother of all bubbles”, for example and has repeatedly claimed that bitcoin would go to zero.
Roubini is a professor at New York University. His predictions are worth paying attention to. He was one of the few who predicted a collapse in the US housing market and banking system. He’s been bearish on cryptocurrencies since they began their meteoric rise in 2017.
Dr. Doom has also been outspoken about his crypto thoughts on Twitter. On Wednesday, Roubini took advantage of plummeting markets to take shots at noted cryptocurrency evangelist and venture capitalist Tim Draper.
“Draper is indeed a lousy investor,” Roubini wrote on Twitter. “After Theranos he became a crypto-evangelist….he will lose on his shitcoins even more than he lost in Theranos.”
Roubini was quoting a tweet from Adam Singer calling Tim Draper “the worst”. The pair were referencing a story about Draper blaming the collapse of Theranos on media attention.
Draper has made a number of predictions about bitcoin over the years. He has famously predicted a single bitcoin will be worth $250,000 by 2022, for example.
Ultimately, these are interesting times for the cryptocurrency industry. Prices continue to face downward pressure. In days gone by, news about the SEC confirming bitcoin and Ether’s status as non-securities would have sent the price of bitcoin soaring 20%. Now, it has led to a gain of just 5% to 6% over a 24 hour period. Stay tuned to see if this bull run continues – or if this is just a bounce on the way to the bottom.
Few of the Best Twitter Tweets & Reactions:
There was enormous amounts of mentions and comments regarding the SEC's securities ruling on Ethereum and Bitcoin (which we already knew) from a past conversation recently.
But we start with the 25 post tweetstorm thread from Marco Santori to kick things off.
1/ Today, in a speech at the Yahoo Finance Summit, SEC gave landmark guidance on token sales. It finally answered the question “When is a token sale a security?” It’s a Really Big Deal™ and I’m going to break it down here. SPOILER: It's really good and totally reasonable.
— Marco Santori (@msantoriESQ) June 14, 2018
Of course all the big boys covered the story, as this was CNBC's video:
Bitcoin and ethereum are not securities, but some cryptocurrencies may be, SEC official says. @BobPisani has the details. https://t.co/hgL2bnSxNX pic.twitter.com/e96SeqSxRV
— CNBC (@CNBC) June 14, 2018
Here are a few more soundbites and tidbits to chew on:
SEC says Bitcoin and Ethereum are not securities. I dont know why the market needed to hear it from thr SEC to know they are not securities. BTC and ETH are obviously not securities.
— Joseph Young (@iamjosephyoung) June 15, 2018
They said the same thing about unregistered taxis and hotels. https://t.co/OybWfbxqf2
— Ryan [Giving Away ETH for Solidity Devs] Selkis (@twobitidiot) June 14, 2018
Competitors that ignored regulations and ethics went ahead with ICOs, and got overfunded on the backs of rabid/ignorant speculators, and now get to keep that money? So the correct move was to break the law? Is that what you are telling me @SEC_News ?! https://t.co/sDAKMwACRQ
— John Carvalho (@BitcoinErrorLog) June 14, 2018
The SEC comments this morning seem to have been worded to strongly suggest, without saying it outright, that Ripple's cryptocurrency, XRP should be categorized as a security. Do lawyers out there disagree? And why not just come out and answer this lingering question?
— Nathaniel Popper (@nathanielpopper) June 14, 2018
Then this one seemed to generate quite a bit of stir from the crypto community:
Whoever at @SEC_News & @SEC_Enforcement decided #Ethereum is NOT a security should be FIRED
Welcome to the Greatest #Bubble the world will ever see. I will NOW give SEC shit every time they call ANY #ICO a #security because by LAW NONE of them should be!https://t.co/47MLhbrIMr— Tone Vays [@Bitcoin] (@ToneVays) June 14, 2018
What do you guys think of the SEC's discussion today essentially saying out right Ethereum as it stands today is not a security nor will it be regulated as such (unless of course it moves its way up the judicial latter in due time).
