Bitcoin price WARNING: Credit card firms lead new CRACKDOWN on cryptocurrency
BITCOIN has seemingly become subject to further regulation with a series of credit card providers reviewing policies that allow customers to buy cryptocurrency with their credit cards.
Bitcoin price has plummeted several times after reports of further regulations, with South Korea hoping to cut the cryptocurrency’s anonymity amongst traders and other experts warning of tax authorities looking to crackdown on profits made by traders and mining operations.
Bank of America, Citigroup are reviewing their policy after Capital One Financial earlier this month banned cryptocurrency purchases on its cards.
Money laundering appears to be at the forefront of concerns, with Discover CEO David Nelms revealing to Bloomberg that financing purchases of cryptocurrencies – such as bitcoin, Ripple or ethereum – creates headaches for banks that are required to monitor transactions for money laundering.
Visa has also ended a relationship with cryptocurrency card company WaveCrest, which allowed people to convert their cryptocurrencies into cash loaded onto a prepaid card.The news comes after a recent survey showed that nearly one-fifth of all bitcoin buyers are using credit cards to fund their investments.
The LendEDU survey, in December, found that 18.15 percent of their sample of 672 bitcoin investors had used a credit card.
Of those, 22.13 percent did not pay off their credit card balance, with 90 percent of those hoping to pay off the balances by selling their bitcoin investments.Owing to the volatility the bitcoin market, BlackRock’s Mateos Y Lago warned that investors should be cautious when buying into the bitcoin market.
Speaking to Bloomberg, the global chief multi-asset strategist said there is an “enormous amount of interest” from companies looking to buy into bitcoin.
However, she issued a stark warning to those looking to do so.
Ms Lago said: “At this stage, there are huge issues. There are safety issues, liquidity issues, regulatory risks.
“This is a very new thing, and to us, at this stage, is not an investible asset class. This is not something we are advising anybody to put money in, unless they are willing to lose their entire stake.”
Source : /finance/city/911633/bitcoin-price-news-credit-card-latest-value-usd-ripple-ethereum-mining
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