Digital Assets
Digital assets are about more than just Bitcoin. The global adoption of blockchain, expansion of cross-border payments, new investment vehicles tied to intellectual property, and more, could one day establish a global market of digitized assets worth $50 trillion. This channel provides access to the latest developments, opportunities, risks, and thought leaders in the growing Digital Assets space.
Top Story
Robinhood (NASDAQ: HOOD) has launched its Crypto app in the European Union (EU), allowing eligible customers to engage in crypto trading with the added incentive of earning Bitcoin rewards. Customers stand to receive up to 1 BTC as a reward when signing up and can earn an additional 1 BTC for each successful referral. The platform claims to be the sole custodial crypto platform in the EU offering customers a percentage of their trading volume back every month, paid in Bitcoin.
Get Daily Updates
Subscribe to DailyAlts Today to get Alternative Investment news, insight, and commentary delivered straight to your inbox every day.
More Stories on Digital Assets
Digital Assets: Goldman Sachs Downgrades Coinbase To Sell In Another Body Blow To Cryptos
Goldman Sachs (NYSE: GS) analysts, led by Will Nance, have downgraded Coinbase (NASDAQ: COIN) from a Neutral rating to Sell. The analysts said they were concerned about the relentless decline in the prices of crypto assets, as well as the falling levels of activity in their market. As a result, the analysts slashed their price target for COIN from $70 per share to $45.
Alternative Investments/Digital: Samsung To Launch Metaverse ETF on HKEX
The Samsung Asia Pacific ex NZ Metaverse Theme ETF (Exchange Ticker: 3172.HK) will debut on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange on July 7, 2022. The listing price of the ETF is HK$15, and the price per lot is HK$750 based on a lot size of 50 units.
Digital Assets: Three Arrows Capital Served Default Notice, Says Voyager Digital
Voyager Digital (TSE: VOYG) announced today that its operating subsidiary, Voyager Digital LLC, had issued a notice of default to Three Arrows Capital for failure to make the required payments on its loan of 15,250 BTC and $350 million USDC.
Alternative Investments/Digital: Osprey Funds Launches Solana Fund On The OTCQB Market
Crypto asset manager Osprey Funds has launched the the Osprey Solana Trust (OSOL). The firm said earlier this month that the fund has commenced trading via the OTCQB market. OSOL is the first publicly traded fund based on the SOL token of the Solana network.
Digital Assets: Contagion? Voyager Digital Slashes Withdrawal Limits From $25K To $10K
Voyager Digital (TSE: VOYG) is reeling from the potential $660 million default on its exposure to crypto hedge fund Three Arrows Capital Ltd comprising 15,250 Bitcoin and $350 million of stablecoin USDC. In a move likely to further dampen the already battered sentiment in the crypto market, Voyager announced Thursday it was lowering its daily withdrawal limits to $10,000 from $25,000. Voyager revealed Wednesday that it may have to issue a default notice to Three Arrows for failure to repay its loan. Shares fell 51% in Toronto trading after the notice became public.
Venture Capital/Digital: Despite Crypto Meltdown, Institutional Platform FalconX Doubles Valuation
Crypto prime brokerage FalconX announced a $150 million Series D round that put the firm’s value at $8 billion, more than twice what it was in August 2021 during Series C, and bringing up aggregate funding to over $430 million. The already profitable company plans to add 55 employees in the coming months, seemingly flying in the face of an industry trend that has recently seen layoffs at many major crypto players following a meltdown in digital asset prices.
Alternative Investments/Digital: VanEck And Investo Launch Crypto ETF In Brazil
VanEck, which manages over $78 billion of assets, has tied up with Brazilian asset manager Investo for the launch of a new crypto ETF that focuses on smart contract exposure. The Investo VanEck ETF MVIS Crypto Compare Smart Contract Leaders Brazil Fundo de Índice – Investimento no Exterior (Symbol: BLOK11) began trading on the B3 on June 23
Digital Assets: Sam Bankman-Fried’s FTX Plays White Knight To Troubled Crypto Lender BlockFi With $250M Loan
Is Sam Bankman-Fried led FTX the lender of last resort in the crypto sector’s Lehman moment? Sam Bankman-Fried, CEO of crypto exchange FTX, is doing all he can to stave off a “crypto winter” threatening to bring the industry to its knees amidst an unrelenting downward spiral in asset prices, and high profile stumbles such…
Alternative Investments/Digital: ProShares Will Debut A Short Bitcoin ETF This Week
Bitcoin has already lost about 70% from its all time high of $68,789 touched in November 2021. But as they say – better late than never. ProShares is likely to launch the first US short bitcoin ETF, the ProShares Short Bitcoin Strategy, on Tuesday, allowing investors to take a punt on a decline in the…
Digital Assets: Regulators Investigating Withdrawals Ban By Celsius
The decision by Celsius to ban customer redemptions, due to “extreme market conditions,” is under regulators’ lens in the states of Alabama, Kentucky, New Jersey, Texas and Washington. Joseph Rotunda, enforcement director at the Texas State Securities Board confirmed this to Reuters on Thursday.
Digital Assets: Crypto Winter Travails
The Celsius Network, the source of a second shock to the crypto market after Terra/UST, is said to have hired Citigroup (NYSE: C) for advice. Celsius has barred all withdrawals, swaps and account transfers, attributing its steps to “extreme market conditions” a.k.a crypto winter.
Digital Assets: Coinbase To Axe 18% Jobs; Downgraded By JPMorgan
Coinbase (NASDAQ: COIN) on Tuesday informed employees by email that it would cut 18% of jobs, which would amount to roughly 1,100 people considering it employs about 5,000 people. The company is the largest US crypto exchange and its share price has slid sharply since its IPO last year. Year to date, the stock has lost 79%, and since November, the crypto market has also entered a vicious downturn.
Digital Assets: BlockFi And Crypto.com Forced To Cut Jobs Amidst Crypto Market Crash
In more signs of pain in the crypto assets market, already in the throes of a massive downtrend, two major players have announced job reductions. While crypto lending platform BlockFi Inc. said Monday that it will slash staff count by a fifth, digital currency exchange Crypto.com announced Friday that it was cutting jobs by 5%. Meanwhile, bitcoin, the leading cryptocurrency, is currently trading at $22,592, its lowest price since December 2020.
Digital Assets: Celsius Bars Withdrawals; Cryptos Melt; Bitcoin Crashes To $23,662
Controversial crypto lender Celsius blocks all withdrawals, transfers, swaps citing “extreme market conditions.” In a “Memo to the Celsius Community,” issued today, crypto lending platform Celsius, which has lent out more than $8 billion to clients, wrote: “Due to extreme market conditions, today we are announcing that Celsius is pausing all withdrawals, Swap, and transfers…
FinTech: Mastercard Enables NFT Commerce; Ties Up With NFT Marketplaces And Web3 Provider
Mastercard (NYSE: MA) announced June 9 its work-in-progress to expand NFT commerce through collaborations with NFT marketplaces including Immutable X, Candy Digital, The Sandbox, Mintable, Spring, Nifty Gateway, and Web3 infrastructure provider MoonPay.
Digital Assets: Two-Thirds Of About 1,900 Crypto Hedge Funds Will Fail (Mike Novogratz)
Speaking at the Piper Sandler Global Exchanges & Brokerage Conference in New York, Novogratz said the Fed’s removal of stimulus led to a correction in the broader financial market, in turn triggering a collapse in crypto prices. As a result, a large number of crypto hedge funds could fail.
Digital Assets: Terraform Labs Under SEC Lens For Alleged Investor Protection Violations
A Bloomberg report on Thursday said the US SEC was investigating Do Kwon-led Terraform Labs, which backed the TerraUSD stablecoin (UST), for violations of statutory regulations that protected investors. The UST stablecoin crashed after it lost its 1-1 peg to the US dollar due to a shock decline in the related Luna token and a failure of the algorithm that was supposed to maintain the peg.
Alternative Investments/Digital: Pacer ETFs Launches Data And Digital Revolution ETF
Pacer ETFs, which specializes in strategy-driven, rules-based ETFs, announced Thursday its launch of the Pacer Data and Digital Revolution ETF (TRFK), which seeks to capitalize on the emerging trend of data transmission and the digital revolution.
Digital Assets: As SEC’s Spot ETF Decision Looms, Grayscale Brings On The Heavy Legal Artillery
Grayscale has hired Donald B. Verrilli Jr., former U.S. Solicitor General, for the eventuality that the SEC rejects its application to convert its flagship $19.8 billion Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (GBTC) into a spot-based ETF. Grayscale Investments is hunkering down for a possible legal battle with the SEC in the event the regulator rejects its spot…
Digital Assets: Crypto Adoption Reaching New Heights In Dubai
Crypto firms are flocking to Dubai after the emirate passed the Virtual Assets Law on 28 February 2022. This innovative law, plus Dubai’s efforts to come clean after it was added to the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), are proving to be a magnet for crypto firms looking to establish a foothold, or HQ, in a crypto-friendly jurisdiction. A few big names: Binance, FTX, Crypto.com, and Bybit.
Digital Assets: Former OpenSea Employee Arrested For Insider Trading Of NFTs
Nathaniel Chastain has been indicted by the DOJ in the “first-ever digital asset insider trading scheme.”
Chastain, a former product manager at OpenSea, the largest NFT marketplace, has been arrested by the DOJ for insider trading of NFTs. He selected, and had privileged information on what NFTs would be featured on OpenSea’s home page; he used it to purchase those NFTs in advance using anonymous digital currency wallets and accounts on OpenSea. After the NFTs featured on OpenSea, Chastain resold those NFTs at profits of 2x to 5x of his initial investment.
Digital Assets: CFTC Hauls Winklevoss-Owned Crypto Exchange Gemini To Court Alleging “Misleading” Statements in 2017
In a press release issued Thursday, June 2, 2022, the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) revealed it had taken Gemini to court for “making false or misleading statements of material facts or omitting to state material facts to the CFTC in connection with the self-certification of a bitcoin futures product.”
Digital Assets: Gemini, The Crypto Exchange Founded By The Winklevoss Twins, Lays Off 10% Of Staff
Gemini blamed the crypto winter as well as the macroeconomic and geopolitical turmoil for the decision. In a note to employees this morning, Tyler and Cameron Winklevoss, CEO and President, Gemini, communicated their “difficult but necessary decision to part ways with approximately 10% of our workforce.” Gemini will close all of its physical offices today…
Digital Assets: Accuweather Enables Access To Weather Data On The Blockchain In Partnership With API3
Web API providers can now offer Accuweather’s weather data for on-chain applications. Accuweather launched its AccuWeather API in collaboration with API3, a leading first-party blockchain oracle solution, empowering the latter to deliver the highly accurate weather forecast and warning data to decentralized applications (dApps).