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.
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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.
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More Stories on Digital Assets
Digital Assets: Visa Signals Potential ‘Mainstream’ Adoption of Bitcoin
In a hugely positive comment for the global adoption of bitcoin, Al Kelly, CEO, Visa (NYSE: V) said on a podcast earlier this week that the leading cryptocurrency could potentially become “extremely mainstream” within five years.
Alternative Investments/Digital: Grayscale Expands Product Lineup; Launches Five New Crypto Investment Trusts
Grayscale Investments launched on Wednesday five new digital currency investment trusts to address the growing global demand for digital currency products. The new trusts are named the Grayscale Basic Attention Token Trust, Grayscale Chainlink Trust, Grayscale Decentraland Trust, Grayscale Filecoin Trust, and the Grayscale Livepeer Trust. These trusts are now open for daily subscription eligible individual and institutional accredited investors.
Digital Assets: Retail Investors A Force To Reckon With In Cryptos (JP Morgan)
Latest quarterly numbers show retail investors stole a march on institutions.
Figures from JPMorgan Chase, cited by Bloomberg, show that retail investors invested in 187,426 bitcoins in the current quarter up to Friday, whereas institutions bought up 172,684 of the leading cryptocurrency.
Digital Assets: Stimulus Checks Could End Up Chasing Bitcoin And Stocks (Mizuho)
Nearly 10% of the direct stimulus amount of $380 billion could potentially end up being used not for groceries and healthcare but instead in bets on volatile assets such as bitcoin and stocks said a report in Yahoo Finance that cited a survey by Mizuho Securities.
Digital Assets: India Plans To Criminalize Crypto-Assets (Reuters)
A Reuters report today, which quoted a senior Indian government official, said India plans to outlaw cryptocurrencies such as bitcoin, making anyone trading or holding them punishable with fines.
Alternative Investments/Digital: Valkyrie Moots An ETF That Invests In Corporate Bitcoin Players
Adding to the SEC’s growing pile of applications from asset managers to launch a bitcoin ETF is a new one from Valkyrie Digital Assets, but this one comes with a twist. The firm has filed for an ETF to be launched with the name “Valkyrie Innovative Balance Sheet ETF.”
Digital Assets: Crypto Lender BlockFi Snags $350M In A Series D Funding Round
BlockFi, which functions as a one-stop crypto bank, allowing you to earn interest on your crypto holdings, announced today the close of its Series D fundraising of $350 million that valued the startup at $3 billion.
Digital Assets: Private Banks In Germany And Switzerland Commence Crypto Services To Meet High Demand
Hamburg-based Donner & Reuschel and Swiss private bank NPB Neue Privat Bank AG now offer crypto services. Earlier this month, Bordier & Cie, a private Swiss bank founded back in 1844, started offering cryptocurrency services to clients, too.
Alternative Investments/Digital: As Hackings Get Bigger, More Sophisticated, CyberSecurity ETFs May Benefit
Last week Microsoft blamed the “Hafnium” group and the Chinese state for hacking its Outlook email software, allegedly compromising 20,000 U.S. organizations. On Sunday, the White House warned that though Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) had issued a patch for its software, unresolved vulnerabilities remained. “This is an active threat still developing and we urge network operators to take it very seriously,” a White House official said.
Digital Assets: More Listed Corporates Across The Globe Opt For Bitcoin
Chinese internet behemoth, Meitu Inc (HKG: 1357), which boasts of over a billion users of its flagship app, announced on Sunday that it had made a sizable investment of approximately $40 million in cryptocurrencies.
Alternative Investments/Digital: The CI Galaxy Bitcoin ETF Launches On The TSX Tomorrow
After bitcoin ETFs from the Evolve Funds Group and Purpose Investment both listed on the TSX last month, a third ETF, this time from CI Global Asset Management, will debut on the Toronto Stock Exchange tomorrow (March 9).
Digital Assets: White House Warns Of “Active Threat” From Outlook Email Vulnerabilities
On Sunday, the White House warned that though Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) had issued a patch for its software, unresolved vulnerabilities remained. “This is an active threat still developing and we urge network operators to take it very seriously,” a White House official said.
Alternative Investments/Digital: Goldman Survey Shows Investors Are Bullish On Cryptos
The Block, which had access to the results of a survey of 280 Goldman Sachs (NYSE: GS) clients on the subject of digital asset investing, reported that investors are bullish on the prospects of cryptocurrencies.
Digital Assets: Ripple Refutes The SEC’s Charges In 100-Page Reply
Ripple claims XRP is a virtual currency, not a security, and the SEC has no authority to regulate it as one. Ripple Labs on Thursday filed its answer to the complaint by the US Securities and Exchange Commission that ripples distributions of XRP constituted investment contracts and were subject to registration under the Securities Act…
Digital Assets: A $200M Fund From Crypto.com To Support Crypto Startups
Crypto.com launched today a $200 million fund for investing in crypto startups at seed and series A stages. The venture arm, Crypto.com Capital, will lead seed rounds with cheque sizes between $100k and $3m and Series A rounds from $3m to $10m.
Digital Assets: India’s Tata Power Testing Blockchain-Based P2P Solar Energy Trading Marketplace
Tata Power DDL, a power distribution utility in Delhi, India, Australian technology company Power Ledger and the India Smart Grid Forum (ISGF) are collaborating on a project to enable the peer-to-peer (P2P) trading of solar energy using the blockchain.
Digital Assets: Canadian Bitcoin Miner Bitfarms Plans Massive Capacity Expansion
Bitfarms Ltd. (TSXV: BITF), which uses hydropower to run its bitcoin mining operations in Canada, announced today a deal to purchase 48,000 new MicroBT mining machines. The equipment will boost Bitfarm’s hash rate capacity by about 5.0 EH.
Alternative Investments/Digital: CBOE Ignites Bitcoin ETF Hope; Files To List VanEck’s BTC ETF
The pressure is now building upon the SEC for approving a bitcoin ETF. Shortly after the Canadian regulators approved two bitcoin ETFs, the Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE) has notified the US SEC of its intention to list the BTC ETF from investment management firm VanEck and its Bitcoin Trust.
Digital Assets: Bordier, A Swiss Private Bank Founded In 1844, Offers Cryptos
Venerable Swiss private banker Bordier & Cie SCmA has brought the world of cryptocurrencies within reach of its clients by establishing a tie-up with Sygnum Bank. By integrating with Sygnum’s B2B platform, clients at Bordier can transact in cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin, Ethereum, Bitcoin Cash, and Tezos. According to an announcement, Bordier completed the integration within 60 days.
Venture Capital: Crypto Exchange Kraken Could Value Over $10B In Potential Funding
Crypto exchange Kraken, which Chief Executive Officer Jesse Powell founded in 2011, is in discussions to raise new funding that could value it at over $10 billion. That’s more than double its valuation of approximately $4 billion when it last raised $13 million in 2019.
Digital Assets: Anchorage, The First Federally Chartered Digital Bank, Raises $80M
Federally chartered digital bank Anchorage announced Thursday its Series C raise of $80 million led by GIC, Singapore’s sovereign wealth fund, with participation from a16z, Blockchain Capital, Lux, and Indico.
Venture Capital: Blockchain-Based Fantasy Soccer Startup Sorare Scores $50M
Sorare is a fantasy game of soccer, where players buy, sell, trade, and manage a virtual team with digital player cards. The game is based on the Ethereum blockchain technology. Nicolas Julia and Adrien Montfort started Sorare in 2018 and today announced their $50 million Series A raise in a Medium post.
Digital Assets: South Korean Central Banker Engages In Bitcoin Bashing
Bank of Korea Governor Lee Ju-yeol, when speaking at a parliamentary session on Wednesday, said crypto-assets such as bitcoin had no intrinsic value and were victim to highly volatile price swings.
Digital Assets: Corporates Buy More Bitcoin – MicroStrategy $1B; Square $170M
MicroStrategy describes bitcoin as “a dependable store of value.”
In an announcement today, MicroStrategy (NASDAQ: MSTR) said it had invested an additional $1.026 billion in the purchase of 19,452 bitcoins at an average price of $52,765 per bitcoin. The company said it now held 90,531 bitcoin at an average cost of $23,985 per bitcoin, worth in total about $2.17 billion.