Category: Cryptonomics
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Private Bitcoin Trust – The Next Step Of BlackRock Into The Crypto Space
BlackRock has launched a private trust offering institutional clients in the U.S. direct exposure to bitcoin, the world's largest asset manager announced in a blog post on Thursday. Earlier, the largest U.S. crypto exchange Coinbase had announced a partnership with BlackRock that will provide common clients access to crypto. The announcement had shot up Coinbase shares significantly. Experts see the partnership with BlackRock as a rescue for the crisis-ridden Coinbase.
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Despite Regulatory Issues, Mastercard Embraces Binance To Launch Crypto Debit Card in Argentina!
A few days ago, Mastercard announced a p,artnership with the world's largest crypto exchange operator, Binance, to launch Binance Card in Argentina to bridge the gap between cryptocurrencies and everyday purchases. Argentina is the first country in Latin America to have the product. The product will be widely available in the coming weeks. The partnership is interesting because Binance is highly controversial in many regulatory regimes such as the UK and the Netherlands.
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CoinBase Short-Sellers lose $234M As Shares Surge Following BlackRock Partnership Announcement!
The share price of the largest U.S. crypto exchange, Coinbase, rallied sharply on Thursday after it announced a partnership with BlackRock. The exchange's stock finished the week 52.65% higher at $93.05 a share. It remained more than 60% lower for the year, however. Coinbase is one of the most wagered-against companies on the US stock market. Investors betting against Coinbase stock lost more than $230 million after the announcement of the BlackRock partnership sent its shares soaring.
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The Crypto Exchanges Performance In June 2022
In June 2022, spot trading volumes across all centralized crypto exchanges fell 27.5% to $1.41tn, the lowest figure recorded since December 2020. Binance’s market share rose to 49.7% in June from 45% in January, according to CryptoCompare. FTX boosted its market share to 8.95% in June from 6% in January, making it the second-largest spot market. Coinbase has seen its share of the spot-trading market fall to 7.39% in June from 10.8% in January. OKX, BeQuant, and Gemini also saw their market share slip.
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Amid Crypto Winter, Coinbase Receives Regulatory Approval In Italy!
In a blog post, Coinbase announced it secured approval from Italian regulators to provide ongoing crypto services to its residents. The new requirement implemented by the Organismo Agenti e Mediatori (OAM) mandated that all companies offering crypto trading, custody, or other services, meet set criteria. We’re proud to be among the first companies to meet these benchmarks. Coinbase serves customers across almost 40 European countries through dedicated hubs in Ireland, the UK, and Germany.
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Crypto Lender Celsius Network Allegedly ‘Deeply Insolvent’!
The collapsed crypto lender Celsius Network “is deeply insolvent,” alleged the U.S. state of Vermont’s Department of Financial Regulation (DFR), noting that the lender lacks the assets and liquidity to honor its obligations to account holders and other creditors. DFR has joined a “multistate investigation” into the troubled crypto lender and issued a warning. Besides Three Arrows Capital (3AC) and Voyager Digital, Celsius is one of the big crypto schemes that imploded in the Crypto Winter environment.
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Blockchain.com – The Uncontrolled Crypto Behemoth Running 37M Users!
The Celsius Network and Three Arrow Capital debacle perfectly demonstrated that the crypto market has a fundamental regulatory issue. In March 2022, the UK FCA warned that it could not efficiently regulate the crypto giant Binance Group, which operates a wide variety of legal entities in different jurisdictions. The same is arguably true for the Blockchain.com Group. The company claims to have 37 million verified users with $1T+ transactions, which accounts for one-third of all Bitcoin. Largely without supervision because the company is not licensed but just registered.
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Collapsed Crypto Hedgefund Three Arrow Capital Applies for Chapter 15 Bankruptcy
FinTelegram reported that a British Virgin Islands court ordered the liquidation of the crypto hedge fund Three Arrows Capital Ltd (3AC) earlier this week. The fund, founded by former Credit Suisse traders Zhu Su and Kyle Davies, managed an estimated $10 billion of assets as recently as March, according to blockchain analytics firm Nansen. While Bloomberg reported that 3AC filed for Chapter 15 bankruptcy to protect its U.S. assets, rumors suggest that liquidators are going for the Singapore assets of 3AC and its founder.
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Comprehensive EU Agreement To Regulate Markets In Crypto Assets!
The European Union agreed on rules to regulate the crypto market, forcing platforms to seek authorization to operate and providing safeguards to users. The agreement still needs to go through Brussels’ legal process and might become effective before 2024. However, officials say it will make the EU the first broad region with common crypto asset regulation in the world. Some countries have national legislation governing digital assets, but these would mark the first EU-wide rules.
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US Crypto Fund Grayscale Sues SEC For Rejecting Its ETF Application!
The US crypto investment firm Grayscale Investments (https://grayscale.com) has sued the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) after the regulator rejected its application to transform its flagship Grayscale Bitcoin Trust into a spot Bitcoin Exchange-Traded Fund (ETF). The SEC rejected Grayscale’s application because the $40B Bitcoin Trust failed to meet consumer protection requirements including measures “designed to prevent fraudulent and manipulative acts and practices.”
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The High-Risk Bet Of Crypto Lending Giant Celsius!
The five-year-old crypto lending giant Celsius Network LLC is one of the highest-profile crypto firms fighting for survival amid the Crypto Winter environment. On 12 June 2022, the company froze all withdrawals. Last week, rival lender BlockFi said it had struck a deal for a $250 million line of credit from a crypto exchange amid concerns by its own depositors. Financial services titan Goldman Sachs is reportedly raising $2 billion to purchase discounted assets from Celsius.