Hello as always, and welcome to this week’s edition of Overbit Weekly Round Up.
This year, a constant theme has been the battle between governments and market regulation for cryptocurrency, which continues to be the case again this week. However, this week brings quite a different tone from one of Crypto’s most prominent voices.
According to Tesla Elon Musk says, the US government should steer clear of crypto markets and avoid regulating cryptocurrency.
Musk was responding on stage to a question from New York Times columnist Kara Swisher. She asked whether the US government should be involved in regulating crypto space. As Musk put it, “I would say, ‘Do nothing,'” he said.
“It is not possible to, I think, destroy crypto, but it is possible for governments to slow down its advancement,” Musk said at the Code Conference in Beverly Hills, California.
Earlier in the year, Tesla said that it had purchased $1.5 billion worth of bitcoin. The value of those holdings swelled to about $2.5 billion in the second quarter as bitcoin prices surged. Since then, Bitcoin has dropped, along with other cryptocurrencies.
Despite Musk’s strong words for the government to take no action, he acknowledged that Crypto doesn’t have all the answers to society’s ills. “I think there’s some value in cryptocurrency, but I wouldn’t say it’s the second coming of the Messiah,” he said.
Closing out today’s edition of Overbit Weekly Round Up, we pivot over to the tourism industry in Thailand – a once-thriving component of the cryptocurrency industry.
According to reports, Thailand’s tourism body plans to launch its own crypto coin for visitors. The Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) is reportedly considering issuing a crypto coin aimed at visitors, the Bangkok Post reported.
At present, TAT is discussing the coin with the regulator; its governor told the newspaper. Reports indicate that Thailand’s tourism body is seriously considering launching a digital token to tap into the growing interest in the tourism world for cryptocurrencies, the Bangkok Post reported Wednesday.
Yuthasak Supasorn, governor of the Tourism Authority of Thailand, told the newspaper that TAT was discussing the coin with the country’s Securities and Exchange Commission, which supervises capital markets.
“We have to prepare digital infrastructure and digital literacy for our tourism operators in order to commence crypto-tourism, as the traditional business model might not be able to keep up with the new changes,” Yuthasak told the Bangkok Post.
This coin will involve transferring vouchers into digital tokens. The TAT Coin will feature on Bitkub, a local cryptocurrency exchange, along with any other digital assets, the report said. Non-fungible tickets, or NFTs – unique digital collectable items – will also be on the exchange, opening the doors for a fully-fledged crypto marketplace. NFTs were banned in Thailand in June for lacking “substance”, making this move quite the departure from just a few months ago.
According to a statement in August, Thailand’s regulator hopes to strengthen the oversight of digital asset business operators and develop quality and investor protection in this area. The tourism organization, which falls under the Ministry of Tourism and Sports, plans to embrace the interest in cryptocurrencies in the travel community.
That concludes this week’s edition of Overbit Weekly Round Up, as we continue to see the theme of legislation changing around the world – we at Overbit will keep you updated – thanks for reading, and we’ll see you next week.