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January 2021 – Weekly Recap 2

Weekly Recap

Jan 4th, 2021 - Jan 11th, 2021

Welcome to our 2nd weekly recap for January.

Overview 

Crypto News

 

A new interpretive letter from the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency paves the way for stablecoins and public blockchains to be fully integrated in the financial infrastructure.

Mediterranean Hospital of Cyprus has successfully vaccinated some of its staff against the COVID-19 virus, including 100 doctors and personnel. The process was carried out via the VeChain-powered E-HCert COVID-19 solution, according to a blog post on January 5, 2020.

XRP is on the cusp of being pushed out of CoinMarketCap’s top 5 after Cardano (ADA) soared over 40 percent in a single day.

The world’s largest crypto management fund, Grayscale, has increased its crypto holdings by almost $2 billion in merely one day (as of Jan. 6).

Coinbase, Binance, Kraken, and Gemini—four of the world’s most prominent cryptocurrency exchanges—experienced technical issues on Thursday after the price of Bitcoin shot past $40,000.

Litecoin will receive smart contract capabilities through Flare Networks, according to a tweet from the latter project.

Citing “the risk of further incitement of violence,” Twitter has permanently suspended President Donald Trump’s account, @realDonaldTrump.

Blockchain platform Polkadot announced that it has hired leading design agency Koto to give the blockchain platform a complete design revamp. However, all key decisions regarding the rebranding process will be driven and approved by the Polkadot community and its representatives on-chain.

Cardano has been an extremely important project in the cryptocurrency ecosystem in the past few years and IOHK has been in the process to expand Cardano’s ecosystem and make it more self-sufficient. As the developments evolve behind the scenes, Cardano has emerged to be the biggest staking network in the world.

Prolific blockchain developer and crypto community member, Dan Larimer, the CTO of Block.one, has announced his resignation today.

 

January 2021 – Weekly Recap 1

Weekly Recap

December 28th, 2021 - Jan 4th, 2021

Welcome to our 1st weekly recap for January.

Overview 

Crypto News

 

In an interesting twist of events, the Mayor of Miami, Francis Suarez, has said that he’s open to exploring the idea of putting 1% of the city’s treasury reserves in Bitcoin.

SkyBridge Capital, the investment firm run by Anthony Scaramucci, has reportedly already invested $182 million in bitcoin and said in an investor brochure the flagship cryptocurrency is “digital gold.”

Crypto exchange Bittrex today announced that it will delist privacy coins Monero (XMR), ZCash and Dash on Friday, January 15, at 23:00 UTC.

In a letter sent to the Treasury on December 31st, 9 congresspeople wrote that they have concerns over the proposed crypto ruling by FinCEN.

In yet another major milestone for the premier cryptocurrency, bitcoin on Saturday broke through the $30K price for the first time, setting new all-time highs.

Polkadot (DOT) surged more than 9 percent last week following a home page listing and vote of confidence by cryptocurrency exchange Binance.

Digital investment giant Grayscale has not unloaded more than 9 million XRP following the announcement of a lawsuit against parent company and payments platform Ripple, despite what some data aggregators and news outlets indicate.

Enterprise blockchain firm Iconloop has secured approval from South Korea’s Ministry of Science and ICT to test its decentralized identity, or DID, technology system to manage driver’s license data in the country.

Ukraine’s government has chosen the Stellar blockchain network as a platform to build a central bank digital currency (CBDC).

 

December 2020 – Weekly Recap 4

Weekly Recap

December 21st, 2020 - December 28th, 2020

Welcome to our 4th weekly recap for December.

Overview 

Crypto News

 

In a new statement from the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), the U.S. securities regulator says it won’t bring enforcement actions against broker-dealers of digital asset securities that meet a number of requirements during the next five years.

The CME Group, a global markets company, and the world’s largest financial derivatives exchange, has announced that it will be launching Ether futures contracts for institutional traders.

Depending on your view, a devastating blow has been dealt to crypto, or a much-needed purge is in progress due to the SEC suing Ripple and two of its top executives for selling XRP tokens which the regulator claims were unregistered securities.

Elad Roisman has been appointed to chair the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), according to a tweet shared by Commissioner Hester Peirce.

The world’s biggest crypto cryptocurrency, Bitcoin, has exceeded the Visa payment giant by the market capitalization value.

In light of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) impending lawsuit against Ripple, some crypto exchanges have either halted trading for XRP and/or dropped the asset from their platform entirely.

BlackRock, the world’s biggest investment manager with some $8 trillion in assets under management, is looking for a Blockchain Lead in their investments division in New York.

December 2020 – Weekly Recap 3

Weekly Recap

December 7th, 2020 - December 14th, 2020

Welcome to our 2nd weekly recap for December.

Overview 

Crypto News

 

According to its Dec. 16 press release, CI Global Asset Management has wrapped up the initial public offering (IPO) of its CI Galaxy Bitcoin Fund.

The CME Group, a global markets company, and the world’s largest financial derivatives exchange, has announced that it will be launching Ether futures contracts for institutional traders.

Germany has passed a law that allows electronic securities to be recorded on a blockchain, according to reports from Reuters.

Popular bitcoin exchange company Kraken, today announced new investments and forthcoming features designed to bring the benefits of Bitcoin’s Lightning Network to its global exchange.

Cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase has confidentially filed a registration statement with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

After weeks of speculation that the Treasury Department was working on regulations that would affect crypto wallets, the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) today issued proposed rules that would “require banks and money service businesses (‘MSBs’) to submit reports, keep records, and verify the identity of customers” who make crypto transactions into unhosted (read: private) wallets.

The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN), an agency of the US Treasury Department, has proposed a new set of rules that would require financial institutions to keep a record of certain transactions sent to private cryptocurrency wallets.

The Binance-backed exchange has added decentralized stock trading for Big Tech mainstays Facebook, Amazon, Netflix and Google. The update is the result of a partnership with Terra and Band Protocol.

As per the latest tweet by CEO Michael Saylor, his business software giant MicroStrategy has just acquired another massive lump of Bitcoin—29,646 Bitcoins worth a whopping $650 million raised recently from investors.

December 2020 – Weekly Recap 2

Weekly Recap

December 7th, 2020 - December 14th, 2020

Welcome to our 2nd weekly recap for December.

Overview 

Crypto News

 

Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors of the G7 nations are reportedly unanimous in their call for robust crypto regulations.

Fidelity Digital Assets, the cryptocurrency arm of the Boston-based mutual fund empire, is set to offer Bitcoin-collateralized dollar loans, according to a Dec. 9 report published by Bloomberg.

In what is yet another victory for the still-nascent crypto-market, DBS, Southeast Asia’s biggest bank, has announced that it will launch a cryptocurrency exchange. The planned digital currency exchange will offer Bitcoin (BTC), Ether (ETH), XRP, and Bitcoin Cash (BCH).

Grayscale Investment Trusts added another $240 million or more worth of crypto this week.

Up to 100,000 ETH were also purchased by the company, which now trades at over a 120% premium.

Grayscale, the Bitcoin Trust custodian and digital asset manager, has added another $140 million worth of Bitcoin to their Bitcoin Trust portfolio within the last 24 hours.

Business intelligence firm MicroStrategy has completed a $650 million debt offering of 0.750 percent convertible senior notes, according to its Dec. 11 press release.

A new feature in Lumi’s iOS wallet allows traders to buy crypto assets through Apple’s popular payments service.

Cardano announced that Bondly is bringing new DeFi capabilities to its platform. Cardano expects to launch its major Goguen upgrade by end-February 2021.

It appears that Pornhub, the world’s largest adult website, is only accepting crypto for its premium service. The move was noticed on the site today after Visa and Mastercard cut off payments to the website last week.

December 2020 – Weekly Recap 1

Weekly Recap

December 1st, 2020 - December 7th, 2020

Welcome to our 1st weekly recap for December.

Overview 

Crypto News

 

While volatility in crypto has kept some payment companies at bay, Visa has plunged in to connect Visa’s payment system with USD Coin (USDC). USDC was developed by Circle, a company that specializes in digital payments.

According to Fundview, Hauck & Aufhäuser will roll out a crypto fund via its Hauck & Aufhäuser Innovative Capital (HAIC) GmbH subsidiary in Jan. 2021. Dubbed HAIC Digital Asset Fund I, the product will focus on Bitcoin (BTC), Ether (ETH), and Stellar (XLM).

S&P Dow Jones Indices announced on Thursday that it will be launching its own cryptocurrency indexes. The new products will reportedly go live in 2021.

According to data shared by Bybt analytics service, over the past 24 hours, Grayscale Investments fund spearheaded by Barry Silbert acquired another large amount of BTC.

Grayscale has added 7,188 BTC to its crypto holdings – that is $136,960,870 at the current exchange rate.

Grayscale, the Bitcoin Trust custodian and digital asset manager, has added another $140 million worth of Bitcoin to their Bitcoin Trust portfolio within the last 24 hours.

The world’s first ethereum Exchange Traded Fund (ETF) is undergoing an Initial Public Offering (IPO) at the Toronto Stock Exchange (pictured) under the ticker of QETH.U.

Next week, Canadian digital asset investment manager 3iQ will be launching an IPO of an Ethereum exchange-traded trust, The Ether Fund, on the Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX) under the ticker QETH.U.

In its Dec. 7 press release, the United States Department of the Treasury (USDT) mentions that the finance ministers of the G7 countries voiced strong support for regulating cryptocurrencies during a recent video conference:

There is strong support across the G7 on the need to regulate digital currencies. Ministers and Governors reiterated support for the G7 joint statement on digital payments issued in October.

November 2020 – Weekly Recap 4

Weekly Recap

November 23rd, 2020 - November 30th, 2020

Welcome to our 4th weekly recap for November.

Overview 

Crypto News

 

After rallying 80% in two months, Bitcoin (BTC) is recapturing media interest from the top end of town, with The Wall Street Journal discussing the cryptocurrency’s adoption among institutional investors on the site’s home page on Nov. 23.

Japanese financial giant SBI Group has announced a cryptocurrency lending service in its Sept. 24 press release.

It will be offered through the company’s cryptocurrency-oriented arm SBI VC Trade.

Binance has announced that it will support XRP’s Flare Networks snapshot and airdrop of Spark tokens and is the latest major exchange to support the event.

IOTA in collaboration with Pantos is looking to promote blockchain and DLT interoperability under the aegis of a new research laboratory dedicated to the two emerging technologies.

John Ratcliffe, the US Director of National Intelligence, has reportedly penned a letter to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) expressing concern about China’s control over Bitcoin and crypto.

Crypto rating agency Weiss Ratings is reporting that the anticipation of a post-Covid world is serving as fuel for Bitcoin’s ascent while other safe-haven assets like gold are losing their luster.

The firm, which invests across asset classes on behalf of companies, pension funds, and sovereign wealth funds, wrote in a filing on November 27 that it might “seek investment exposure to bitcoin indirectly” via Grayscale’s Bitcoin Trust product (GBTC) through its Macro Opportunities Fund.

Thousands of new nodes have joined the ethereum network in the last few days to reach 11,162, one of its highest number in years.

There were some 8,000 nodes on November 15th, with it beginning to jump on the 22nd from 9,500 to more than 11,000.

November 2020 – Weekly Recap 3

Weekly Recap

November 16th, 2020 - November 23th, 2020

Welcome to our 3rd weekly recap for November.

Overview 

Crypto News

 

  • The dollar has lost significant value against the Chinese Yuan (CNY) since May of this year.

    It has dropped from $1 buying you 7.2 CNY to now just 6.5 CNY, its lowest level in two years.

    Crypto investors who register their XRP in an eligible account will receive free Spark tokens in a 1:1 ratio when the Ripple-backed blockchain company holds its “snapshot day” on December 12th. Recipients will retain ownership of their XRP holdings while receiving the new tokens.

    In a newly published report, crypto investment firm Pantera Capital says a Bitcoin shortage is at the heart of the recent price surge and that the majority of newly minted BTC is being scooped up by PayPal.

    Some 3.2 million testnet eth and more than 100,000 validators are now staking on it, showing significant demand to test the new Proof of Stake ethereum blockchain which is expected to go out imminently.

    His nomination by President Trump still requires the Senate to confirm him before he becomes the official Comptroller of the national bank regulator.

    Before his nomination appears before the Senate house, he has to first scale through the confirmation hearing of The U.S. Senate Banking Committee which oversees the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC).

    Bitfinex’s derivatives platform is in the news today after it announced the launch of its perpetual contracts for IOTA, Chainlink, and Uniswap. Each of these contracts will offer users maximum leverage of up to 100x, leverage that is typical of such contracts and they will be settled in Tether (USDt) tokens.

    Jay Clayton, the current chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), announced he will be stepping down from his position by the end of 2020.

    During his tenure, Clayton has blocked all proposals for a Bitcoin ETF and waffled on whether tokens like XRP are indeed securities.

November 2020 – Weekly Recap 2

Weekly Recap

November 6th, 2020 - November 13th, 2020

Welcome to our 2nd weekly recap for November.

Overview 

Crypto News

In a research note published Friday, JPMorgan analysts said Grayscale’s bitcoin trust saw cumulative inflows through October, whereas gold exchange-traded funds (ETFs) saw “modest outflows” since mid-October. “This contrast lends support to the idea that some investors that previously invested in gold ETFs such as family offices, may be looking at bitcoin as an alternative to gold,” said the analysts.

A former chairman of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), Gensler was tapped to lead the agency review team for the Federal Reserve, banking and securities regulators, the Biden campaign formally announced Tuesday, following reports last week he was a contender.

Per its updated announcement, PayPal ended its waitlist for customers looking to use cryptocurrency in the U.S. Trading features a limit of $20,000 per week, which is double the originally announced $10,000.

Bitcoin was recently promoted on national television by the incoming Wyoming senator Cynthia Lummis. She is the first woman to have been elected to this position.

 

November 2020 – Weekly Recap

Weekly Recap

November 1st, 2020 - November 6th, 2020

Welcome to our 1st weekly recap for November.

Overview 

Crypto News

The RBA has partnered with Australia’s two largest banks and leading Ethereum software company ConsenSys that is spearheaded by Joseph Lubin, one of the cryptocurrency’s co-founders. The findings of the project are expected to be presented in early 2021.

Rumors are spreading the Chinese authorities have put under investigation Zhu Jiawei, the COO of Huobi, a Chinese run exchange with a flourishing Over the Counter (OTC) market that serves China.

In Monday’s quarterly earnings call, PayPal executives confirmed that they’d seen so much interest in the feature that they would raise buying limits from $10,000 to $15,000.

Ethereum 2.0 Phase 0 has now been formalized for launch at some time around Dec. 1. The deposit contract is live and can collect the necessary funds to trigger staking.

An update by the Ethereum Foundation released on Wednesday explains how the genesis process is expected to happen.

Everything is up—Bitcoin, stocks, gold, the yuan, and the euro—except for the U.S. dollar.

 

Related News

While the United States prepares for the results of the 2020 Presidential Election, a number of data points and traders expect some significant cryptocurrency price fluctuations this week. Statistics from skew.com show bitcoin’s 30-day implied volatility has increased to 59% while 3-6 month stats jumped over 62%.

According to a press release, after two years of effort, Gazprombank’s subsidiary in Switzerland has been authorized to offer crypto custody and trading against fiat currencies to selected institutional and corporate customers.

According to a bombshell Forbes report dated Oct. 29, there is some “speculation” that Binance, the largest cryptocurrency exchange in the world by trading volume, is currently being investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the Internal Revenue Service (IRS).