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Circle CEO Announces Eliminating Ten Percent of Staff Citing Regulatory Certainty as Reason

Circle ceo announces eliminating ten percent of staff citing regulatory certainty as reason

Circle CEO Announces Eliminating Ten Percent of Staff Citing Regulatory Certainty as Reason

Circle ceo announces eliminating ten percent of staff citing regulatory certainty as reason

Jeremy Allaire, the CEO of Circle, the company behind the famous Poloniex exchange and the USDC stablecoin, tweeted May 22, 2019, that the company was laying off ten percent of their staff at Circle as a result of the restrictive regulatory framework in the United States.

The U.S. Needs a More Balanced Crypto Policy

After the May 17 update where Poloniex announced the geofencing of nine assets from the United States, Circle CEO Jeremy Allaire has sent out another announcement stating that the company was slashing their staff by ten percent. Some unfilled positions at the company were also eliminated. Explaining the cause for this decision, Allaire pointed toward the “increasingly restrictive regulatory climate in the United States.”

Circle and its team seem to be in constant conflict with the regulatory climate in America as Allaire explained in his Medium blog published on May 21. He wrote that innovators of blockchain and cryptocurrency technologies from around the globe have tried their best to keep up with laws by making all necessary reforms, but the regulation itself has failed to keep pace with the growth.

The company is now looking forward to driving business in countries that offer crypto-friendly regulations while also making efforts to lead the U.S. government to create “a more balanced crypto policy” in the country.

While these updates from Circle raise concerns about the company’s stability, a report from The Block Crypto quoted a source from Circle saying that the company has been profitable in the recent past with $2 billion in notional volume year-to-date.

Taking the Fight to Congress

In his blog, Allaire cited that the SEC’s recent guidance prompted more questions than answers and despite innovators moving out of the country.

He said that without any congressional actions, the SEC is cornered to following obsolete laws to justify whether a digital asset classifies as a security or not.

It’s true that without the government getting seriously involved in the cryptocurrency sphere and trying to understand the use cases it brings along, not much can be done by the federal authorities.

The involvement of Reps. Warren Davidson (R-OH) and Darren Soto (D-FL), who last year successfully introduced the Token Taxonomy Act that avoided binding cryptos to the definition of securities, stands as an example of the positive impact that the government’s direct involvement with cryptos can have.

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Published at Thu, 23 May 2019 09:53:09 +0000

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Ethereum Price Tops $900 on CEX, Possible Haven for Investors

Almost every single crypto-currency has seen massive gains in the past few months, Ethereum included. But with the recent news about bitcoin Cash being listed on Coinbase, much uncertainty has been thrown into the market.


The Biggest Smart Contract Platform

Ethereum has more than tripled in the past three months, with the market price at $255 just three months ago to over $800 today. The rally appears to not be stopping, however, as some exchanges are posting numbers well above market price. On one exchange, CEX.io, the price broke through the $900 barrier. While it has dropped since, it’s clear that as people start researching bitcoin and digital currencies in general, altcoins are valid options for those looking to diversify.

Ethereum has been around since 2014 and its native currency is the “Ether.” It touts itself as a “Smart Contract Platform,” as opposed to bitcoin being a payment platform. A smart contract is simply a piece of software that executes an action, and once executed cannot be stopped/altered. Since it is all code, the contract can be audited and verified that it will do exactly what the developer says it will do.

Sample smart contract code

An example smart contract on Ethereum. Source: https://www.ethereum.org/token.

Here is a very simple example of a smart contract. Let’s say I’m a YouTuber, and you’re a company looking to advertise on my videos. I put a short ten-second ad at the beginning of each of my videos, and in return, you’ll pay me $1 for every 1000 views. Now I could trust you so that when I reach a view threshold, you’ll pay me. Or we could get a third party involved to ensure I get paid. But with a smart contract, it could automatically pay me. It could check the YouTube video statistics for views every so often, and pay me accordingly. All in a completely trustless way.

Ethereum and The Coinbase Effect

There is also something to be said about access to different coins for new investors. Ethereum might be experiencing what I’m going to call the “Coinbase Effect,” which is the fact that the currencies that are currently listed on Coinbase are pretty much the only ones the average-Joe investor knows about. Since these are the only ones available on Coinbase, which is a major on-ramp for non-technical users, they’ll tend to invest in these currencies over others.

The Coinbase Effect

With bitcoin and bitcoin Cash going head to head, and accusations of conspiracy flying every which way, many may be looking at ETH as a haven for their newly found gains from bitcoin. Because it’s listed on Coinbase, investors can easily convert their current holdings to Ethereum. Ethereum is not without problems of their own, however.

Earlier this month, CryptoKitties pressed the network against its limits. As a result, Ethereum users saw fees approaching $1 or higher, which is completely unheard of for most cryptos, especially Ethereum. We’ll see in the coming weeks whether this rally has any substance behind it, or if it is just a pump and dump.

Are you invested in Ethereum? How do you think the market will react to the Coinbase announcement long term? Let us know in the comments below!


Images courtesy of AdobeStock, Coinbase, Ethereum

The post Ethereum Price Tops $900 on CEX, Possible Haven for Investors appeared first on Bitcoinist.com.

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