Bitcoin (BTC) proponents are again mulling the chances of the United States banning cryptocurrency as lawmakers move to outlaw flavored e-cigarettes. E-cigarettes: Washington “clears market” The sudden restrictions, which both the White House and the Food and Drug Administration confirmed on Sept. 12, mean e-cigarettes will disappear from the U.S. market within a month. Manufacturers may be able to bring back their products in the future, subject to safety tests proving they are not responsible for a reported surge in lung disease which triggered the government action. “The Trump Administration is making it clear that we intend to clear the …

In a major escalation against socialist president Nicolás Maduro, Donald Trump’s administration has frozen all Venezuelan government assets. The United States’ hawkish move has been reflected in a new all-time-high for peer-to-peer trading volume on LocalBitcoins in the country. Trump takes on the “usurper” As the Associated Press (AP) reported on August 5, the U.S. administration’s action took immediate effect this Monday, with President Trump citing Maduro’s ongoing “usurpation” of power — as well as human rights abuses by his supporters — as the grounds for the decision. Even ahead of yesterday’s strident move, Venezuela has been weathering ruinous economic …

The founders of Orbs — the blockchain startup President Trump invited to his Middle East Peace Plan conference — have become mired in their own fraternal strife. As Israeli news site Globes reported on Aug. 4, Elad Arad is suing his co-founders Uriel and Daniel Peled for having dispossessed him of his share in the firm, among other charges. Peaceful glimmers Orbs is an Israeli blockchain infrastructure-as-a-service firm that raised over $133 million in an initial coin offering (ICO) last year and thus ranked among the top ten ICO projects in terms of capital raised in 2018, as Cointelegraph has …

Over the last few years, United States President Donald Trump’s tweetstorms have become a peculiar yet amusing feature of American public life. The president’s off-the-cuff comments have served a wide variety of purposes, from enriching political discourse with the mysterious term covfefe to delivering direct threats — furnished with proper capitalization — to the leadership of the nations deemed U.S. adversaries. The most newsworthy rants almost invariably felt improvised, emotional and reactive. However, the historic series of tweets that constituted the first-ever public comment on cryptocurrencies by a sitting U.S. president didn’t seem to fit the same mold. If anything, …

The United States Congress’ hearings on Libra are over. First, on July 16, the Senate Banking Committee held a testimony on Facebook’s cryptocurrency project, which was followed by a meeting organized by the House of Representatives Financial Services Committee on the next day. David Marcus, a Facebook executive and head of the social media giant’s crypto subsidiary, Calibra, testified on behalf of Libra at both hearings. The legislators extensively interviewed him for two days in a row, mainly inquiring about the project’s privacy and safety. Here are the main outtakes from those sessions. Senators used the opportunity to grill Facebook …

Things are heating up for Libra: This week’s United States congressional hearings showed that many politicians are not convinced by the safety aspects of Facebook’s cryptocurrency project, as they grilled the social media giant on privacy- and trust-related issues. In response, Facebook keeps stressing Libra’s compliance with regulators and readiness to discuss possible frameworks. Meanwhile, a drafted bill titled “Keep Big Tech out of Finance” surfaced right before the testimonies before Congress took place. So, does the U.S. government have the power to terminate Libra — which is something Rep. Maxine Waters famously requested soon after the project’s white paper …

In the premiere episode of the new Cointelegraph series “Coffee and Crypto,” head of editorial Olivia Capozzalo and head of news Molly Jane Zuckerman discussed the latest news in the cryptocurrency industry. Latest news in the cryptocurrency industry In the video, Capozzalo and Zuckerman discuss United States President Donald Trump criticizing Bitcoin (BTC) and Facebook’s Libra stablecoin, the European Central Bank’s recent statements about Bitcoin, and whether BTC is a currency. Zuckerman also talked about the hack of Japanese exchange Bitpoint, which yesterday published the breakdown of crypto assets stolen in the 3 billion yen (~$27.8 million) hack of its …

Since July 10, the price of Bitcoin (BTC) has fallen from $13,200 to $9,684, with major cryptocurrency exchanges, including Coinbase, recording a 26.6% drop within a period of seven days. The recent pullback of Bitcoin is widely believed to be a technical factor that was pushed by sellers who took control of the market once the dominant crypto asset went below key support levels at $11,000 and $10,700. BTC price visualization from Coin360 Alex Krüger, a global markets analyst, hinted that the criticism of Bitcoin by United States President Donald Trump and Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin could have contributed to …

United States Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin shares President Donald Trump’s concerns on the use of cryptocurrency to finance illicit activity, and stresses the role of enforcing FinCEN regulations with respect to crypto-dealing organizations. Mnuchin made his remarks at a press conference on July 15. Mnuchin called the use of cryptocurrencies to fund illicit activity a national security issue, saying that billions of dollars have been used for this purpose: “Cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin have been exploited to support billions of dollars of illicit activity, like cybercrime, tax evasion, extortion, randomware, illicit drugs, human trafficking […] This is indeed a national …

United States president Donald Trump would cause a Bitcoin (BTC) price crash if he banned it, but the law would likely prevent him, economist and trader Alex Krueger concluded on Twitter July 15. Trump, who announced his distaste for cryptocurrency in general last week, initially failed to impact market sentiment. A subsequent breakdown over the weekend sent Bitcoin below $10,000. Publishing a dedicated thread on the chances of Trump banning the cryptocurrency, Krueger argued he could theoretically have some success. By targeting entry and exit points for retail and institutional investors, the president would turn Bitcoin into an isolated, more …

Coming every Sunday, the Hodler’s Digest will help you track every single important news story that happened this week. The best (and worst) quotes, adoption and regulation highlights, leading coins, predictions, and much more — a week on Cointelegraph in one link. Top Stories This Week Trump tweets opposition to crypto, specifically Libra and Bitcoin Shrinking violet Donald Trump doesn’t often share his views, so it was refreshing to see him share an opinion for once on Twitter. The United States president declared that he isn’t a fan of Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies — telling his 61.9 million followers they …

Donald Trump saying he is not a fan of Bitcoin (BTC) and cryptocurrency is “yuge” for the industry, commentators were suggesting after new tweets on July 12. In the hours after the United States’ president delivered his lackluster appraisal of crypto, the Bitcoin price stayed stable, only to then begin growing to hit 1% gains Friday. Negative or not, for proponents, the event marked a psychological milestone for Bitcoin, as Trump had previously held off from mentioning it in public. The fact that he felt the need to bash Bitcoin publicly feeds the narrative that it is both independent of …