The cryptocurrency bear market continues, with the biggest coins all taking a nosedive this year. But as digital coins bottom out, the underlying blockchain technology offers surprising risk rewards, said Brian Kelly, founder and chief executive officer at BKCM LLC, an investment firm focused on digital currencies. "Last year was all about the froth," Kelly said of the overvaluation of assets like bitcoin. "And the promise of, 'Hey, this guy's building the new Facebook.' I think this year is...

The Facebook fallout could be good news for blockchain technology, said Mitch Steves, analyst at RBC Capital Markets. "In the future, someone like yourself no longer has to give their photos to Facebook," Steves said Wednesday on CNBC's "Fast Money," on how blockchain would work with social media. "Instead, you could just share that photo specifically with people, and then you'd be able to track it and make sure it's not shared with someone who gets access to your information." "You can 100...

Former congressman Barney Frank calls the Senate bill that reduces Dodd-Frank regulations on smaller banks "mostly" reasonable. "I like a lot of that bill," he told CNBC on Friday. Frank, the former Democratic U.S. representative from Massachusetts who co-authored the Dodd-Frank banking reforms after the financial crisis a decade ago, said the new legislation, Senate bill 2155, has many "positive elements." "People who say it's a rollback are wrong," he said on "Squawk Alley" from Fort...

To combat fears of a trade war, put your money in bitcoin, said hedge-fund manager and bitcoin bull Brian Kelly. "[Bitcoin] is the new gold," Kelly said Friday on CNBC's "Fast Money." "In this environment," Kelly said of fears of a potential trade war, "I want to own those things that are deflationary and fixed supply in an inflationary environment. And look at what bitcoin has done the last couple of days." Bitcoin is up about 6.5 percent this week, while gold is down 0.7 percent. In fact,...

Regulators and investors alike are just beginning to understand what cryptocurrency is, says Jamie Smith, president of the Global Blockchain Business Council. The organization helps regulators understand blockchain technology and other cryptocurrencies. "What concerns me is that there are so many regulators, not just in the United States, but all over the world, who are just waking up to what this is," Smith told CNBC during "Power Lunch" on Friday. Despite the buzz around digital currency,...