© TheStreet Cryptocurrency Price Check: Bitcoin Surges, Walmart Looks for Crypto Leader
The cryptocurrency market over the weekend topped the $2 trillion mark while retail giant Walmart advertised for a digital-currency and cryptocurrency product lead.
CONSTELLATION BRANDS, INC.
The Bentonville, Ark., retailing behemoth is looking for someone to develop "the digital currency strategy and product roadmap."
3 Ways to Gain Exposure to Crypto Through Equities
"You will provide the leadership to identify technology and customer trends and the investments needed to build on those trends," the notice said.
Last month, Amazon posted a position for a digital currency and blockchain product lead on its site.
Bitcoin on Saturday reached $48,126.47, its highest level since May 17. It was recently up 3.4% to $47,344, according to CoinDesk.
Ethereum was up 4.2% to $43,281 and Dogecoin was up 16% to 34 cents.
"The total crypto market once again broke the 2 trillion mark this weekend, bringing it back to amounts not seen since the market went bearish in mid-May," said Zak Killermann, fintech and crypto expert at Finder.
Killermann said the marker climbed for various reasons, including Cardano's announcement to support smart contracts with its Alonzo upgrade planned for September.
"Ethereum has also contributed to the bullish market activity thanks to the recent EIP-1559 upgrade," he said.
Derek Alia, co-founder of Futureswap, said "the EIP-1559 update is bringing lower gas fees to Ethereum-based projects, which will ultimately drive more liquidity into the ecosystem."
On the legislative front, the U.S. Senate last week passed a $1.2 trillion infrastructure bill that includes digital-currency-tax rules.
Winston Ma, former managing director and head of North America at China Investment Corp., China's sovereign wealth fund, said "the broad crypto implication of the $1 trillion infrastructure bill can be a game-changing moment for the crypto ecosystem."
"So far the crypto lobbyists have not managed to sway the related language in the Biden infrastructure bill, but the battle lines are just beginning to be drawn in the war over how cryptocurrency will — or will not — be regulated," said Ma, author of "The Digital War - How China's Tech Power Shapes the Future of AI, Blockchain and Cyberspace."
"Surely you will see crypto industry using its proven power to fight another day."
David Lesperance, managing partner of immigration and tax adviser Lesperance & Associates, said that "crypto picks and shovels were rudely introduced to the US legislative sausage-making process" with the new proposed regulations and reporting requirements in the bill.
"Initially dismayed, there is still some opportunity to lobby for modification as the bill has moved back to the US House," he said.
"At the end of the day, the fantasy has vanished that the crypto industry was going to avoid the type of anti-money-laundering and [know your client] requirements that is imposed on all other aspects of the financial industry."
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This article was originally published by TheStreet.