Bitcoin Stalls Above $9,000, Andrew Yang Bumps Cryptocurrency, Japan’s Digital Currency

Another week, another round of Crypto Tidbits. Save for the Bitcoin price bump at the start of the week, the past seven days have been relatively mild for the cryptocurrency markets, with volatility remaining to a minimum. Per data from Coin360, BTC is up 10% in the past week, and altcoins, namely Ethereum, Litecoin, and EOS have strongly outperformed the market leader.

The price action was underscored by strong fundamental developments, namely the fact that the Bitcoin hashtag got its own emoji on Twitter.

Related Reading: Crypto Tidbits: Elon Musk Talks Bitcoin, Ripple IPO Coming, Facebook’s Blockchain Loses Another Member

Bitcoin & Crypto Tidbits

• Bitcoin Gets Its Own Emoji On Twitter: On Saturday night, Twitter bequeathed on us a gift: the Bitcoin hashtag now has its own emoji. To use the emoji, all you need to do it enter the hashtag of “Bitcoin,” and the emoji will magically appear on your screen. Bitcoin joins other hashtags with their own emojis, including #metoo. While it isn’t clear who ordered the addition of this tag, Twitter’s CEO, Jack Dorsey, has long been an outspoken proponent of Bitcoin, calling the cryptocurrency the leading contender to be the currency of the entire Internet in a podcast with Joe Rogan.

• Japan Intends to Be Prepared to Launch Crypto Asset: According to Bank of Japan deputy governor Masayoshi Amamiya, the central bank must be ready to issue a digital currency should the need arise in the near future: “The speed of technical innovation is very fast. Depending on how things unfold in the world of settlement systems, public demand for CBDCs [central bank digital currencies] could soar in Japan. We must be prepared to respond if that happens,” Amamiya said at an event, Reuters reported.
• Deutsche Bank Says Bitcoin Won’t Be a Store of Value Any Time Soon: According to a recent “The Future of Payments” report from Deutsche Bank — one of the world’s largest financial companies — while cryptocurrencies have “passed the tipping point needed to become fashionable,” Bitcoin is currently “too volatile” to become a store of value, looking to the volatility of the asset over recent cycles. The bank added in its report that Bitcoin still represents an extremely small portion of global payments, and is seemingly not on a trajectory to capture more share of that in the near future.
• Andrew Yang Shares His Latest Thoughts On Crypto: According to Andrew Yang, a Democratic presidential candidate that is fourth or fifth on the left side of the aisle (depending on which polls you consult), the discrepancy in the regulation of cryptocurrency between states is hampering innovation. He thinks we need a “uniform set of rules and regulations around cryptocurrency use nationwide,” claiming that the “hodgepodge” of state-by-state treatment is “bad for everybody.” Regardless, he went as far as to say that regulation will not “impede” cryptocurrency, effectively stating that Bitcoin is impossible to stop.
• Ex-UFC Fighter Brands XRP A Scam: In a tweet published on Tuesday, former UFC fighter Ben Askren said that he thinks “XRP is a scam,” responding to one of his followers who said that Askren’s silence on XRP means the cryptocurrency “will take a long time, if ever, to moon.”
• Ledger Advertises Itself By Telling People to “Take Back Control”: Bitcoin hardware company Ledger recently co-opted Boris Johnson’s “taking back control” tagline for the Brexit campaign as a way to advertise their products as a way to take back control of one’s own finances.
• Vitalik Thinks Bitcoin Cash Isn’t Bitcoin: In a tweet published on February 1st, Ethereum’s Vitalik Buterin confirmed that he thinks Bitcoin Cash is not Bitcoin.

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