This Week in Digital Asset News: More Regulation Discussions, Fidelity Weighs in on Cryptocurrency, SkyBridge Offsets Carbon
We find the most important headlines in digital assets for the week and give you our take. This week's themes were institutional adoption and regulation, here are your headlines for August 9th, 2021:
Institutional hesitancy for cryptocurrency may be resolved, says CFTC commissioner
Synopsis: There may be a regulatory war brewing in the US between the SEC and CFTC.
Theme: Cryptocurrency Regulation
Our Take: There will be different impacts on the market whether the SEC or CFTC wins the regulatory war. This is all happening while congress is aiming to regulate crypto taxes in the Infrastructure bill.
Two things are becoming apparent about crypto: Fidelity exec
Synopsis: According to Fidelity Digital Assets President Tom Jessop there are two emerging themes that are becoming apparent about cryptocurrency. First, they are seen as their own unique asset class with its own fundamental drivers, which differ from other financial assets. Second, and, maybe most importantly, what we're seeing is continued purchase interest over a longer period of time.
Theme: Institutional Adoption
Our take: Anybody who has spent any time around the digital assets space knows that the asset class is unique. How those assets are treated has changed over time and we believe that the market will continue to evolve as different investors show interest.
SkyBridge Buys Carbon Offsets to Green Bitcoin Holdings
Synopsis: SkyBridge Capital has partnered with MOSS Earth to purchase and immediately retire tokens representing approximately 38,436 tons of carbon—a transaction that offsets the estimated carbon footprint of the bitcoin currently held across its products firm-wide.
Theme: Cryptocurrency Sustainability.
Our take: Discussions around the impact on climate change cryptocurrencies have hit center stage when Elon Musk punched back against Bitcoin Miners in a move that was seen to tank crypto markets. Carbon offsets can be a crucial short-term move to move cryptocurrencies towards sustainability.
About Mainbloq
MainBloq is the high-performance trade execution infrastructure for digital assets. We offer the industry’s leading smart order routing and execution algorithms through a single API connection. We empower our customers with custom trading solutions for high speed, reliable global best execution.
This Week in Digital Asset News: GoldenTree and Wealthfront Move Into Crypto, US Crypto Regulation May Be Around The Corner...
We find the most important headlines in digital assets for the week and give you our take. This week's themes were institutional adoption and regulation, here are your headlines for August 2nd, 2021:
GoldenTree, $45b Asset Manager, Is Buying Bitcoin
Synopsis: GoldenTree has been adding Bitcoin to its balance sheet as a diversifier for the broad mix of debt-focused strategies it has run for years, according to two sources with knowledge of the matter.
Theme: Institutional Adoption
Our Take: GoldenTree is one of the few institutions to hold the asset on their books as most banks and hedge funds gain exposure via futures.
Wealthfront to Offer Cryptocurrency Exposure to its Clients Via Grayscale
Synopsis: Wealthfront customers can now invest up to 10% of their portfolios into GBTC and ETHE by using the company’s platform.
Theme: Institutional Adoption
Our take: While this does not give Wealthfront's customers direct exposure it gives curious investors an opportunity to invest.
How the Proposed Crypto Tax Rules Miss the Mark
Synopsis: A late addition to the infrastructure bill moving through Congress would impose impossible reporting requirements on miners and wallets.
Theme: Cryptocurrency Regulation
Our take: Digital Asset markets are very different from traditional financial markets, any attempt to regulate them in similar ways will cause chaos. We strongly believe that sensible, informed regulation will be a good thing for the industry in the long run as long as it takes into account the unique topology of digital asset markets.
About Mainbloq
MainBloq is the high-performance trade execution infrastructure for digital assets. We offer the industry’s leading smart order routing and execution algorithms through a single API connection. We empower our customers with custom trading solutions for high speed, reliable global best execution.
This Week in Digital Asset News: JP Morgan Allows Crypto Exposure To Clients, 70% Of Institutional Investors Want To Add Cryptocurrency, & More...
We find the most important headlines in digital assets for the week and give you our take. This week's themes were institutional adoption and regulation, here are your headlines for July 26th, 2021:
Fidelity: 70% Of Institutional Investors Want ‘Digital Assets'
Synopsis: A survey from Fidelity Digital Assets has revealed that seven in ten institutional investors from around the world, including advisors, family offices, pensions, hedge funds, and endowments, plan to buy or invest in digital assets within the next five years.
Theme: Institutional Adoption
Our Take: While this survey was conducted during the height of the bull market we strongly believe that very few portfolios will not have some sort of crypto exposure in the years to come.
JPMorgan Opens Crypto Trading To All Clients
Synopsis: JPMorgan has become the first major US bank to provide all wealth-management clients with access to bitcoin and other cryptocurrency funds.
Theme: Cryptocurrency Adoption, Institutional Adoption
Our take: While JPMorgan's relationship with cryptocurrency has been a roller coaster ride, having one of the world's largest banks broaden the availability of cryptocurrency to their clients is a good thing for the industry.
BNY Mellon joins State Street in backing Pure Digital
Synopsis: Bank of New York Mellon has joined State Street and a group of banks backing crypto exchange Pure Digital.
Theme: Institutional Adoption
Our take: Every institution is taking a different approach to researching, getting exposure, and investing in digital assets.
About Mainbloq
MainBloq is the high-performance trade execution infrastructure for digital assets. We offer the industry’s leading smart order routing and execution algorithms through a single API connection. We empower our customers with custom trading solutions for high speed, reliable global best execution.
This Week in Digital Asset News: Bank of America Offers Crypto, Fed Chair Calls for Strong Regulatory Framework, and more...
We find the most important headlines in digital assets for the week and give you our take. This week's themes were institutional adoption and regulation, here are your headlines for July 19th, 2021:
Bank Of America to offer Cyrpto Futures to Clients
Synopsis: Bank of America, the second-biggest bank in the U.S. by assets, is wading deeper into the $598.23 billion bitcoin market, offering some Wall Street investors a way to interact with the cryptocurrency. This follows their announcement last week that they were opening a Crypto research desk.
Theme: Institutional Adoption
Our Take: BOA is part of a long list of banks offering Crypto exposure to their clients via futures. No major banks currently offer spot exposure because of regulatory uncertainty. We believe most intuitions will limit themselves to offering derivatives until regulatory frameworks have more clarity and there are more robust custody solutions.
More than half of experts in a recent crypto survey said bitcoin will replace fiat currency by 2050
Synopsis: 54% of fintech experts surveyed expect bitcoin to overtake currencies issued by central banks in global finance by 2050.
Theme: Cryptocurrency Adoption
Our take: El Salvador will not be the last country to adopt Bitcoin as legal tender, whether the world's super powers will allow the replacements of their fiat currencies is a completely different conversation.
Fed Chair Jerome Powell says that U.S. needs a ‘strong regulatory framework’ for stablecoins
Synopsis: Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell said Wednesday that U.S. is at a ‘critical point’ for regulation of digital currencies, advocating for the application of new rules on some digital payment tools that are similar to those applied to bank deposits and money-market mutual funds.
Theme: Regulation
Our take: Broad frameworks are needed for the entire industry, not just stablecoins. We do agree that stablecoin trust is integral to the market because a failure point in any of the stablecoins will cause a cascade that will reverberate through the entire marketplace.
About Mainbloq
MainBloq is the high-performance trade execution infrastructure for digital assets. We offer the industry’s leading smart order routing and execution algorithms through a single API connection. We empower our customers with custom trading solutions for high speed, reliable global best execution.
This Week in Digital Asset News: Bank of America Creates Crypto Research Team, Crypto Exchange Goes Public
We find the most important headlines in digital assets for the week and give you our take. This week's themes were institutional adoption and regulation, here are your headlines for July 12th, 2021:
Elizabeth Warren Prods SEC To Regulate Crypto Exchanges
Synopsis: The Massachusetts Democrat says in a letter to the Chairman of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Gary Gensler, that cryptocurrency exchanges should be regulated similarly to securities exchanges.
Theme: Regulation
Our Take: Regulation needs to happen, but it needs to take into account the unique aspects of crypto markets.
82% of Institutional Crypto Investors Expect to Increase Market Exposure
Synopsis :Approximately 8 out of 10 wealth managers and institutional investors from the US, France, Germany, the UAE, and the UK said they would enhance their crypto exposure between now and 2023. 40% of them plan to “dramatically increase their holdings.”
Theme: Institutional Adoption
Our take: While institutions have increased their cryptocurrency holdings over the past few years, their crypto asset allocation is still a small proportion. We believe it is only natural for the allocation to increase as the space matures.
Bank of America Establishes Crypto Research Team
Synopsis : A new team at the second-largest bank in the United States will reportedly be devoted entirely to researching cryptocurrencies. Alkesh Shah from Bank of America’s data and innovation strategy group will lead a digital assets group. He along with Mamta Jain and Andrew Moss of Bank of America Merrill Lynch’s digital innovation group will be reporting to Michael Maras, who reportedly oversees global currencies and commodities research.
Theme: Institutional Adoption
Our take: While some banks have jumped into the water by offering exposure via futures, other banks are being more conservative and looking at the broader space.
Crypto Exchange Bullish to go public in SPAC deal
Synopsis : Bullish, a cryptocurrency exchange backed by Peter Thiel, announced it's going public in a merger with Far Peak Acquisition in a deal valued at $9 billion.
Theme: Mergers and Acquisitions
Our take: While this isn't the first time that an exchange has gone public through a reverse merger, anything with Peter Thiel attached generally increases the exposure.
About Mainbloq
MainBloq is the high-performance trade execution infrastructure for digital assets. We offer the industry’s leading smart order routing and execution algorithms through a single API connection. We empower our customers with custom trading solutions for high speed, reliable global best execution.
This Week in Digital Asset News: European Comission Releases Regulation Guidelines, German institutions add Crypto
We find the most important headlines in digital assets for the week and give you our take. This week's themes were institutional adoption and regulation, here are your headlines for July 6th, 2021:
EUROPE RELEASES FRAMEWORK FOR CRYPTO REGULATION
Synopsis: The European Commission released a 168 page document named Regulation in Markets in Crypto Assets (MiCA). It is a framework regulation and is not yet law.
Theme: Regulation
Our Take: Any regulation will come with good and bad for markets, but in totality while regulation may bring some volatility in the short term, it does being more certainty for institutions and serious players.
GERMAN INSTIUTIONS CAN NOW INVEST IN CRYPTOCURRENCY
Synopsis :THE Fund Location Act (Fondsstandortgesetz) went into effect on July 1 in Germany. Under this law, new and existing domestic special funds (Spezialfonds) are permitted to invest up to 20% of their portfolios in crypto assets.
Theme: Institutional Adoption, Regulation
Our take: We believe that Germany is a bellwether for the rest of Europe. This coupled with the upcoming MiCA are good signs for the future of digital assets in Europe
GREYSCALE ADDS CARDANO TO ITS ETF
Synopsis : Grayscale has added Cardano (ADA) to their Digital Large Cap Fund.
Theme: Crypto Infrastructure
Our take: Greyscale has been an early mover in bridging cyrpto access to traditional markets. We believe that broader access is a good thing for markets.
About Mainbloq
MainBloq is the high-performance trade execution infrastructure for digital assets. We offer the industry’s leading smart order routing and execution algorithms through a single API connection. We empower our customers with custom trading solutions for high speed, reliable global best execution.
This Week in Digital Asset News: Regulatory pressure while banks explore going deeper into digital assets
We find the most important headlines in digital assets for the week and give you our take. This week's themes were institutional adoption and regulation, here are your headlines for June 28th, 2021:
REGULATION WILL BOOST CRYPTO CURRENCY
Synopsis: Law professor Emilios Avgouleas says that while regulation could affect short term prices, in the long term it will be good for the industry.
Theme: Regulation
Our Take: One of the most common things we hear from prospective clients is the lack of clear regulatory frameworks is keeping them from making more serious investments.
DESPITE REGULATORY PESSURE, BANKS ARE EXPLORING DIGITAL ASSETS
Synopsis : JP Morgan, Morgan Stanley, Bank of America, and Goldman Sachs have are amongst the early movers on giving their clients access to crypto.
Theme: Institutional Adoption, Regulation
Our take: Most banks are focusing on futures for the moment as they don't want to hold the assets on their books. As regulatory frameworks are established we believe they will expand their offerings.
CRYPTO FLASH CRASH WAS A TEST OF INFRUSTRUCTURE
Synopsis : The May 19th flash crash exposed the underdeveloped underbelly of crypto infrastructure.
Theme: Crypto Infrastructure
Our take: Relying one a small number of venues that are not diversified puts you at risk. Mainbloq's connect once, trade everywhere platform allows you to connect to exchanges, liquidity pools, and OTC desks with one connection.
About Mainbloq
MainBloq is the high-performance trade execution infrastructure for digital assets. We offer the industry’s leading smart order routing and execution algorithms through a single API connection. We empower our customers with custom trading solutions for high speed, reliable global best execution.
Congress unveiled a new legislation focused on the regulation of stablecoin issuers and service providers
Three House Democrats have unveiled a new piece of legislation focused on the regulation of stablecoins issuers and companies that provide stablecoin-related services. The new Congressional bill says it would be 'unlawful' to issue stablecoins, 'provide any stablecoin-related service' without federal approval.
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Stablecoins ‘Pose Serious Risks’ to Financial Security, ECB’s Lagarde Says - Coindesk
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Russian central bank opposes ruble-pegged stablecoins - CoinTelegraph
According to the text of the bill, the draftees appear to be casting a wide regulatory net to cover those that issue stablecoins or provide business services related to them.
As the text states:
"It shall be unlawful for any person to issue a stablecoin or stablecoin-related product, to provide any stablecoin-related service, or otherwise engage in any stablecoin-related commercial activity, including activity involving stablecoins issued by other persons, without obtaining written approval in advance, and on an ongoing basis, from the appropriate Federal banking agency, the Corporation, and the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System."
The draft bill, if approved, "would protect consumers from the risks posed by emerging digital payment instruments, such as Facebook’s Libra and other Stablecoins currently offered in the market, by regulating their issuance and related commercial activities," according to a statement published by the office of Rep. Rashida Tlaib.
The bill would notably mandate that "any prospective issuer of a stablecoin to obtain a banking charter" and "that any company offering stablecoin services must follow the appropriate banking regulations under the existing regulatory jurisdictions." The legislation was put forward by Tlaib along with Reps. Stephen Lynch and Jesús García — all of whom signed a letter that took aim at U.S. Comptroller Brian Brooks for his focus on cryptocurrency-related issues earlier this month.
Stablecoins are cryptocurrencies designed to minimize the volatility of the price of the stablecoin, relative to some "stable" asset or basket of assets. A stablecoin can be pegged to a cryptocurrency, fiat money, or to exchange-traded commodities (such as precious metals or industrial metals).
Are Stiffer Bitcoin Regulations Brexit’s Surprising Side-Effect
By CCN: The prolonged process for withdrawing from the European Union may have resulted in great uncertainty, but the UK’s financial watchdog is sure about what it wants post-Brexit – more muscle to oversee bitcoin and the crypto industry at large.
According to the Financial Conduct Authority’s business plan for 2019/2020, the regulator will urge Her Majesty’s Treasury to boost its enforcement powers in the crypto sector ahead of Brexit. Per FCA’s chief executive, Andrew Bailey, UK’s EU withdrawal is the body’s most pressing and urgent challenge.
Andrew Bailey on our Business Plan 2019/20 https://t.co/4Juptx0QcY pic.twitter.com/d5guGsyJtV
— FCA (@TheFCA) April 17, 2019
The financial watchdog intends to first hold public consultation first, though, before its enforcement powers can be increased:
“Following our consultation on cryptoassets we will publish a Feedback Statement and finalised Perimeter Guidance. We will also provide technical advice to the Treasury on extending the perimeter for utility and exchange tokens and on extending our financial crime provisions to certain activities related to cryptoassets.”
Is FCA Too Eager to...
FCC Chairman Aijt Pai addresses blockchain regulations
, Aijt Pai, U.S. FCC Chair stated.
Blockchain regulation is one of the major developments going on in the tech industry now. The distributed ledger technology has been touted by many to be the savior to tracking of records, supply chains, voting, retailing, travel and a whole lot more. But for the tech to go fully functional in some places, there have to be ground rules to regulate how the tech can be used or not used.
The government agency that is responsible for the regulation of radio, television, wire, satellite, and cable – the chair of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) – voiced to the Indian Express that it might be essential to grow the realm of the telecom regulator (FCC) to include the evolving tech.
“So one of the challenges is to figure out how we find a level-playing field that promotes investment and innovations for all these firms without disadvantaging any one of them. The second issue is that these are very dynamic industries and one can foresee in coming decades – things like artificial intelligence, machine learning, blockchain, quantum computing will have significant impact on how communications networks...