Crypto 'noobs' learn to cope with wild swings in digital currencies
After researching digital currencies for work last year, personal-finance writer J.R. Duren hopped on his own crypto-roller-coaster.
Mr. Duren bought US$5 worth of litecoin in November, and eventually purchased US$400 more, mostly with his credit card. In just a few months, he experienced a rally, a crash and a recovery, with the adrenaline highs and lows that come along.
"At first, I was freaking out," Mr. Duren said about watching his portfolio plunge 40 per cent at one point. "The precipitous drop came as a shock."
The 39-year-old Floridian is part of the new class of crypto-investors who do not necessarily think bitcoin will replace the U.S. dollar, or that blockchain will revolutionize modern finance or that dentists should have their own currency.
Dubbed by long-time crypto-investors as "the noobs"– online lingo for "newbies" – they are ordinary investors hopping onto the latest trend, often with little understanding of how cryptocurrencies work or why they exist. Reuters reports.
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The Rundown
Subpoenas from SEC signal crackdown on initial coin offerings
The Securities and Exchange Commission has sent subpoenas to dozens of people and companies behind the rise of so-called initial coin offerings, a clear sign of the agency's desire to rein in the popular new fundraising method.
TD Bank stops letting customers use credit cards to buy cryptocurrency
Toronto-Dominion Bank is halting the use of its credit cards to buy cryptocurrency as it conducts a review of the "evolving market." The recent decision follows moves by several U.S. banks to stop allowing credit card purchases of Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies. The Canadian Press reports.
ETF veteran goes crypto, predicting multitrillion-dollar market
Matt Hougan is leaving the exchange-traded-fund industry after 15 years and going all-in on cryptocurrencies as he predicts digital assets will transform investments just like ETFs did. Hougan is joining Bitwise Asset Management Inc. as vice president of research and development. He previously served as chief executive officer at educational company Inside ETFs. "When I think about individual applications, like gold which is a $3 trillion market, there's the idea of Bitcoin as millennial gold," Hougan said in an interview. "It's a multitrillion-dollar opportunity, and then when you get into utility tokens, each of those markets can be substantial."
Others
Financial institutions must not ignore risks of cryptocurrencies
Self-proclaimed bitcoin inventor accused of fraud in scheme
I want to be a bitcoin miner ... what will my salary be?
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Compiled by Gillian Livingston and Darcy Keith