Mr. Libra Goes to Washington

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June 19, 2019 CONGRESS VS LIBRA?: The newly-debuted digital currency from Facebook, dubbed Libra, is already drawing the ire of lawmakers and regulators , particularly those in the halls of the U.S. Congress. In addition to calls for hearings into the bigger implications of Libra -- that is, its potential risk to the financial system -- one influential Congresswoman, Maxine Waters, has called on Facebook to halt work on the project entirely until further discussion is had. Facebook, for its part, says it plans to work with regulators on the initiative. What's more, some analysts are already predicting that this week's pushback is only the beginning. ETHEREUM 2.0 ON THE HORIZON?: Conversations among developers who are working on ethereum's next iteration -- dubbed ethereum 2.0 -- are starting to lay the groundwork for a possible launch next January. The idea is that "phase zero" could roll out in early 2020, though there's a big caveat: that date might not stick depending on how further testing of the software goes. But as ethereum founder Vitalik Buterin put it in an email to CoinDesk: “From my experience with [ethereum 1.0], I’d definitely say [end-of-year] 2019 / Jan 2020 is a feasible target."  HARD CORE FUNDING: According to venture capitalist Dovey Wan of Primitive Ventures, finding sustainable funding for bitcoin developers is the biggest challenge facing the ecosystem in 2019. To bridge that gap, she’s helped gather 50 BTC — an amount worth just north of $450,000 at press-time prices — that are now up for grabs. Wan partnered with Bitmain alum Pan Zhibiao to create the nonprofit Hard Core Fund in 2018, then started supporting Bitcoin Core contributors Luke Dashjr and Ben Woosley last fall. While many contributors have donated anonymously to the fund, known benefactors include entrepreneur Kevin Pan of Poolin and others from China’s crypto ecosystem. THE SNAP: Bitcoin’s (BTC) price closed on a negative note on Tuesday, snapping the longest daily winning streak in 11 months. The leading cryptocurrency by market value fell 2.87 percent yesterday, having scored 2-5 percent gains in each of the preceding six days. That was the longest stretch of daily price gains since July 2018. Back then, the price had advanced for seven successive days – from July 13 to July 19 – to hit highs above $7,500, as per data source CoinMarketCap. The latest six-day winning streak saw bitcoin rise from $8,120 to $9,366. Full story. LIBRAS AGAINST...LIBRA?: Facebook may have made an unforeseen enemy in its push to create a cryptocurrency: those born under the astrological sign it used to name its Libra project. As the Washington, D.C.-based publication The Hill reports, "people who identify as Libras took to social media to say they don’t care for Facebook using their sign as the name for an alternative financial system." And while this CoinDesk editor (a Libra) doesn't feel quite as virulent on the subject, others seem to be saying that Facebook -- itself a subject of ire for its past privacy practices -- is seeking to appropriate a symbol of harmony, justice and balance.  WHO WON #CRYPTOTWITTER Copyright © 2019 CoinDesk, All rights reserved.  Our mailing address is:  250 Park Avenue South New York, NY, 10003, US  Want to change how you receive these emails? You can update your preferences or unsubscribe from this list