The ethereum spring continues as the currency makes new highs daily recently, rising beyond $250 from a recent low of around $150. It is dragging everything else up too, including bitcoin which has not yet made a high after its drastic $1,000 correction around 10 days ago.
Ethereum’s price rises to nearly $25 – image source cryptowatch.
The currency is rising for many reasons, but maybe this time Putin dunit as the Kremlin is boasting Putin met Vitalik Buterin to talk about blockchains.
We don’t know what exactly was said, but we can imagine Buterin probably spoke at around 1,000 miles per hour, in Russian, while fidgeting and occasionally trying to catch some breath in a hiccup way, while Putin probably just smiled and nodded, saying something like, yes, sure, we support “the idea of establishing ties with possible Russian partners,” while actually wondering something like – erm, what did this guy just say?
Although, he must have been impressed because Kremlin was keen to point out they met, first through the Press Secretary, then through Kremlin’s official website which says little more than what the Press Secretary had already stated. That may implicitly suggest Putin or the Kremlin sees the fact they met as reflecting very well.
He’s probably right. Being seen to embrace cool new tech does sort of make you look a bit cool, especially when Putin gets to be the highest level official to show awareness of this space.
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The ball is now on Trump, China, Germany, Britain and maybe even neutral Switzerland because of its crypto-valley. The British, of course, won over this space some time ago, but the Germans are now starting to give them some competition.
Jakob von Weizsäcker, a German politician and Member of the European Parliament, stated last month that blockchain technology could become of systemic relevance. He is probably right, especially as Netherlands’ national grid is now piloting the potential use of blockchain tech to better manage energy supply during increases or decreases in demand.
At the other end, China remains a bit of a puzzle. It may have been a complete coincidence, but the Chinese exchanges returned withdrawals and deposits to normal operations on the day ethereum trading was added to the two biggest Chinese exchanges, Huobi and OKCoin.
They both will probably say PBoC had nothing to do with them temporarily freezing withdrawals, or with re-starting them, but no one really believes any of it since PBoC’s orders have been leaked.
Anyway, it is America that remains frustrating since they claim to be the land of the free. There was some talk of a Fintech charter, but that now has been locked up in courts. We won’t mention IRS’s continued anti-capitalist double taxation, but the SEC’s slap in rejecting the ETF still hurts a bit, not because of the decision made, but of how it was announced at literally the last minute before the deadline.
Trump has had plenty of time now to settle in, so we need to hear something. Are they going to sandbox or what? Should we just ignore the American regulators because they probably wouldn’t dare act if the project and the innovators behave themselves? Or should we look somewhere else for leadership?
London, yes, but maybe Switzerland too which boasts to have the most decentralized government as well as the crypto-valley, plus a history of neutrality, close proximity to Germany, France, Italy and London.
Maybe, if they manage to find some decent translators and make announcements in English because otherwise it is probable that no one would notice as much of this space, especially conceptually, in code development, etc, remains driven by the English speaking world.
Although, who knows, maybe Buterin can learn some Swiss too. Or is it German they speak? What, they speak French as well? And Italian? Now, don’t fool, what’s Romansh?
Featured image from Shutterstock.
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