Merrill Lynch Blocks Bitcoin But Crypto Advocates Have Different Plans

Bitcoin Blocked but is it Gone for Good?

Despite Merrill Lynch banning Bitcoin trading on Wednesday, the future of crypto and blockchain technology still remain at the forefront of tomorrow’s market. This ban, along with a wild holiday vacation, resulted in bitcoin to plunge dramatically now accounting for just over 30% of the global marketplace and trading for nearly $16,000 per coin. Merril’s block on the crypto originator signifies prevailing issues that Bitcoin has had with banking and government institutions preventing them from worldwide adoption. An internal memorandum reviewed by the Wall Street Journal mentioned:

The decision to close GBTC to new purchases is driven by concerns pertaining to suitability and eligibility standards of this product.

Meet Divi, a Future-Proof Cryptocurrency & Big Banking Solution

The Divi Coin was developed to bypass the risks associated with bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies to reduce vulnerability and overall uncertainty on the market. Claiming that its token is the “superior bitcoin.” Divi accomplishes this by resolving the 3 biggest concerns of popular cryptocurrencies

  1. Anonymous Transactions- In order to limit illegal activity, Divi will have an on/off feature for anonymizing the transactions of users.Divi is looking into allowing the masternode holders to vote to permanently disable the anonymous transactions feature, if and only if governments make cryptocurrencies with anonymous transactions illegal. Leaving it “on” doesn’t make it transparent, “on” means transactions are encrypted and hidden.
  2. The Howey Test and Securities Laws- With growing pressure from governments to regulate cryptos they believe to be securities, Divi is able to pass the “Howey Test,” which will validate them as a legitimate cryptocurrency in the marketplace.
  3. Taxation- Divi’s smart wallet has various features that will make tax regulations easy to comply with as laws become more specific in the future.

How ICOs Will Keep Bitcoin Alive

A previous Scope Weekly blog discussed the growing potential of Initial Coin Offerings (ICOs) and how it helped raise nearly $4 billion in 2017 alone. Not only will this trend continue but affiliated ICO companies will now be able to invest their capital in seed-funding style deals. These first-ever ICO-powered funds are set to debut during the first quarter of this year.

They will allow bigger blockchain-based platforms to invest in up and coming startups which in turn will create a diversified ecosystem of business resources. With ICO companies having a market cap exceeding $1 billion, these entities will now have a greater vision for 2018 and beyond that focuses on partnerships and sustainability.

Will Facebook Bet on Blockchain?

Mark Zuckerberg, CEO, and Chairman of Facebook, recently announced his interest in blockchain technology on his annual “new year focus” post. This is following perhaps one of the most challenging years for the social pioneer with Russian propaganda testimonies and accusations of age discrimination via their advertisement campaigns. Still, Zuckerberg is optimistic about 2018 claiming cryptocurrencies may hold a significant role in finding viable solutions for his company.

There are important counter-trends to this [decentralization]–like encryption and cryptocurrency — that take power from centralized systems and put it back into people’s hands. But they come with the risk of being harder to control. I’m interested to go deeper and study the positive and negative aspects of these technologies, and how best to use them in our services.

Now the real question is whether or not alternative solutions like Divi or the growth potential with ICO-powered funds will be enough to keep governments and banks open to a crypto-based future. Banking institutions have also continually dragged bitcoin’s name through the mud while quietly investing in it in some way, shape or form. With Zuckerberg now on board with blockchain technology and cryptocurrencies, chances are that despite Merrill’s ban and other regulations worldwide, bitcoin’s legacy is still far from over.


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