The crypto “Dark Age” is coming. And it all started with 10 simple words...
On June 14, crypto exchange Binance updated its terms of service to say “Binance is unable to provide services to any U.S. person.”
This change is casting a big shadow over the entire crypto industry.
Crypto exchange Bitfinex stopped serving Americans last year. Meanwhile, exchanges Bittrex and Poloniex are restricting Americans from trading certain tokens. This is a sign the crypto market is maturing. The exchanges that serve U.S. residents must meet stringent guidelines. That should make them safer and more accountable – and legitimize the sector in the long term. But for now, it’s also a big step backward for U.S. traders – and the entire crypto market. Estimates suggest roughly 23 million Americans own cryptocurrency. And nearly 50% of all crypto investment funds are based in the U.S. So U.S. investors are critical to the crypto ecosystem. Cutting them off from certain cryptos is creating a crypto Dark Age, during which liquidity will dry up and some crypto prices will fall. This all sounds bleak, but we believe the upcoming changes will create big investing opportunities for us. You see, while the Dark
You see, Binance is the world’s largest crypto exchange. (Other exchanges claim higher trading volumes than Binance, but their numbers likely include manipulated data.) Every day, Binance processes more than $2 billion in trades, and it lists more than 150 cryptos – many that are hard to find on other exchanges. U.S. investors account for the biggest chunk of the exchange’s user base. Over a recent 30-day period, more than 23% of Binance’s traffic originated in the U.S., according to web analytics firm Alexa. The next-closest country is Japan, at 6.6%, followed by India at 5.2%. But since June 14, U.S. residents haven’t been able to create new accounts on Binance. And after September 12, they will no longer be able to trade on Binance.com (though they’ll still have access to their cryptos). At that time, Binance is planning to launch a new exchange for U.S. residents, Binance.US. Binance.US will likely have more restrictions, less liquidity, and – most importantly – fewer tokens. The move is part of a larger trend.
Editor's note: Crypto expert and analyst Eric Wade sees a cryptocurrency "Dark Age" on the horizon... Is he right? Will cryptos rally when bitcoin goes "mainstream" in U.S. markets? We at American Consequences frankly don't know. But we think what Eric has written is worth reading.
66
August 2019
Made with FlippingBook flipbook maker