Billionaire Mark Cuban: "I would rather own BITCOIN than GOLD" | Bitcoin News by CoinCorner

Transcript

The UK government has appointed a new economic secretary responsible for overseeing the Bitcoin industry. Bullish news is only coming from the United States as Trump is set to overhaul existing crypto regulations, whilst individual states are introducing strategic Bitcoin Reserve bills. In Europe, Italy's largest bank has purchased €1 million EUR worth of Bitcoin.

Welcome back to Bitcoin news brought to you by Coin Corner. I'm your host Alex Glass. Now let's get straight into this week's top stories.

Looking first at Bitcoin's price, it's been a bit of a lackluster week as Bitcoin continues to move sideways, trading between $90,000 and $100,000 per coin. At this point, 100K seems to be becoming a very strong resistance level, and we'll have to wait and see if it can break through or if it gets rejected to the downside.

Now kicking things off in the UK this week, following the resignation of Tulip Siddiq, Emma Reynolds has been appointed as the new economic secretary. She will be responsible for overseeing the broad financial sector but also digital assets and Central Bank Digital Currencies. The government and Financial Conduct Authority have already both set out their agenda for a new crypto regime, but it's currently unclear how this new appointment may affect the industry. Although in the past, Reynolds has said that she sees there are positives in the UK being a second mover to the European Union and learning from it. This statement could suggest that under her leadership, we're unlikely to see the UK introduce any new innovative policy that could benefit Bitcoin.

Also in the UK, James Howells, the man who mistakenly threw out a hard drive containing £598 million worth of Bitcoin, has had his lawsuit against the council thrown out. Since throwing the drive away in 2013, Howells has repeatedly tried to cooperate with Newport City Council in order to search the landfill site, but he's had no success. As a last resort, he escalated the situation by suing the council for £495 million or to be given the opportunity to attempt to recover the drive from the landfill site. But as of this week, Judge Kerr KC said there were no reasonable grounds for bringing the claim and no realistic prospect of succeeding at a full trial. Tragic as this is, it reinforces how important it is to find a secure storage solution for your Bitcoin.

Also in the news, American billionaire investor Mark Cuban has said that he'd rather own Bitcoin over gold if something bad happens to the economy. In an interview, Cuban explained that historically, gold has been a good store of value in times of economic instability and high inflation. However, he went on to say that he sees Bitcoin as a better version of gold. The main weakness he raised is gold's physicality—it's heavy, easy to steal, and difficult to exchange for goods and services. He joked by saying, "What are you going to do with a bar of gold? Let me slice you off a little piece." Cuban then elaborated that Bitcoin is easier to buy and sell; you can fractionalize it, buy things, and transfer it internationally. So, he thinks it has more value than gold.

Now in Europe this week, Italy's largest bank, Intesa Sanpaolo, has purchased €1 million worth of Bitcoin. The purchase, which translates approximately to 11 Bitcoin, is yet to be confirmed officially by Intesa, although several credible media outlets, including Reuters, have reported on it. This is not the only move Intesa has made into the digital asset space, as last year the bank's crypto division reportedly secured approval for spot crypto trading, adding to its existing offerings of crypto options, futures, and ETFs. Pierre Rochard, Vice President of Riot Platforms, highlighted the significance of this shift, noting that financial institutions increasingly recognize Bitcoin's potential. He said, "All of the banks need to start accumulating Bitcoin to recapitalize their balance sheets."

Moving on, it's now just a few days until Trump officially returns to the White House, and sources suggest that we could see a huge overhaul on stringent crypto regulations imposed by the outgoing administration as early as next week. Paul Atkins, Trump's crypto-friendly pick for SEC chair and former agency commissioner, is widely expected to end a crypto crackdown led by Gary Gensler. But currently, it's still unclear when the Senate will confirm him. Within the SEC, Commissioners Hester Peirce and Mark Uyeda are also crypto enthusiasts who have criticized Gensler's tough stance on the industry and have, in the past, floated alternative crypto-friendly initiatives. They are both apparently keen to get the ball rolling in establishing clearer guidance and potential policy changes from the commission.

As well as this, according to Bloomberg, Trump is also planning to establish a new crypto advisory council made up of around 24 CEOs and founders in the space. The advisory council is expected to collaborate with major government agencies, including the SEC, CFTC, and the Treasury, to create a clear regulatory framework, promote a pro-crypto environment, and draft new legislation. As well as this, they're also expected to work on establishing a strategic Bitcoin reserve for the country, which was a key promise during Trump's campaign. It's unknown who will serve on this advisory council, but many notable names, including Michael Saylor, Kris Marszalek, Brian Armstrong, and Brad Garlinghouse, have all reportedly had interactions with Trump and his team.

Now, more positive news regarding the US embracing Bitcoin is coming from the state level, as this week Oklahoma became the sixth state to introduce a new bill to establish a strategic Bitcoin Reserve. The list, which already includes Texas, New Hampshire, North Dakota, Pennsylvania, and Ohio, seems to be growing rapidly, and it's becoming clear that across the country, they're really starting to take this asset seriously.

Now for our final story this week, we have more corporate Bitcoin purchases to announce. First, we have MicroStrategy, who have now purchased Bitcoin for the past 10 consecutive weeks, this time buying 2,530 Bitcoin. Then we have Similar Scientific, who have bought 237 Bitcoin. Liquid Technologies have also purchased 7 Bitcoin, and Matador made their first Bitcoin purchase of 29 Bitcoin, kicking off their corporate holding.

But unfortunately, that is all we have for you today. So as always, make sure to hit that subscribe button down below, and I'll see you next week with more Bitcoin news.