Summary:

  • South Korea announces that all initial coin offerings (ICOs) will be banned
  • Bitcoin (BTCUSD on xStation5 platform) remains little changed despite another risk on the horizon
  • Bahrain may consider adopting Bitcoin and issuing bonds in digital currencies

Bitcoin got another nasty report to digest this time from South Korea which seemed to take a leaf out of China’s book and proclaimed that all initial coin offerings (ICOs) would be banned in the country. The statement issued by the South Korean Financial Services Commission (FSC) on Friday said that even as raising funds through ICOs seem to be on the rise globally and in the Asian country as well, a decision to put the brakes on it stems from the fact that government recognizes it as the risk of financial scams.

Why did Bitcoin respond so delicately? To be honest, a decline which occurred in the aftermath of the South Korean statement wasn’t impressive at all given how reactions to that kind of news had looked in the past. One of the reason why the price has been quite calm thus far might be that South Korea hasn’t prohibited cryptocurrency exchanges, a move which China undertook. The Korean government is to continue monitoring cryptocurrency markets to see if additional regulations are needed.

link do file download linkBitcoin sapped just slightly following the statement from South Korea. Notice, the price broke $4066 to the downside which could be a signal of an extended leg lower. Source: xStation5

In order to offset downside risks coming from South Korea one needs to mention the Bahrain’s story which is reportedly becoming interested in Bitcoin and cryptocurrency in general. Khalid Al Rumaihi, the chief executive of the Economic Development Board of Bahrain, mentioned the country has been eyeing the blockchain sector for some time. He hopes Bahrain can “issue bonds in digital currency.” He also added that Bahrain is excited to adopt cryptocurrency experimentation within their economy in order to move ahead of the crowd. They want to be innovative. They want to be high tech.

Other news worth looking at:

  • US administration reaffirms its commitment to blockchain as a technology with the potential to improve U.S. government operations
  • Russian deputy PM says he expects pending legislation on cryptocurrencies will feature a ban on payments made in cryptocurrency