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
Peter Brandt: Bitcoin Could Hit $5,500 in 2020
Peter Brandt, the Factor LLC CEO, said that Bitcoin could drop to $5,500 before it shows a recovery. In a Tweet sent on November 21, Brandt set his floor price for the world’s largest cryptocurrency.
Bitcoin Plunges to Sub-$7000 Levels Before Recovering
Bitcoin plummeted today after back-to-back crackdowns on virtual currencies by the Chinese Government. Yesterday, regulators in Shenzen, and today, in Shanghai, threatened to crack down on alleged illegal activities. The PBoC was reportedly behind both campaigns and seeking to impose a ban on trading in cryptocurrencies.
A UK Legal Task Force Clarifies on Cryptoassets and Smart Contracts
A UK Jurisdiction Task Force has issued a legal statement on cryptoassets and smart contracts.
Issued under the aegis of the Law Tech Delivery Panel, the document is a result of the consultative process that commenced in May 2019. Its object was to clarify the status of crypto assets, distributed ledger technology, and smart contracts in English private law.
AWS Killer? Blockchain-Based Cloud Storage in a P2P Architecture
Storj Labs’ beta storage service announced its Beta2 launch and the pricing thereof. The Tardigrade Decentralized Cloud Storage Service claims it costs less than half of legacy cloud storage providers.
Grayscale Bitcoin Trust to Add SEC Legitimacy: Files Form 10 (It’s Not an ETF)
In another first, the Grayscale Bitcoin Trust files a Registration Statement on Form 10 with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). If the SEC accepts the application, Grayscale Bitcoin Trust will be subject to various reporting obligations under the Exchange Act. These include filing annual reports on Form 10-K, quarterly reports on Form 10-Q, and current reports on Form 8-K. The current 12 months compulsory holding period for private placement investors will reduce to 6 months.
Fidelity Digital Assets Secures New York State License
Fidelity Digital Assets received a license from the New York State Department of Financial Services. The state regulator provided permission for the crypto-arm of Fidelity Investments to offer new services.
There’s Hope Still for a Bitcoin ETF; SEC Reviewing Bitwise Rejection
The SEC is revisiting its rejection last month of the proposal from Bitwise Asset Management for a Bitcoin ETF.
In a document published on November 18, 2019, the United States SEC said it would review the ETF application filed by Bitwise Asset Management and NYSE Arca.
Private Equity Shop Ethos Capital Buys the .Org Domain Registry
Ethos Capital has purchased the Public Internet Registry, the group that maintains the .org registry. The private equity firm purchased the registry from the Internet society, according to a statement this week. The deal marks the end of nearly two decades of control by the Internet Society.
Fundstrat’s Lee: Bitcoin ETF Workable Only at $150,000
Fundstrat’s Tom Lee, a Bitcoin perma-bull, says the crypto would have to rise to $150,000 to support ETF-like volumes.
ETF-wishers should, therefore, pray for Bitcoin to rise nearly 18 times from its current price of $8490, if Tom Lee’s prediction is to come true.
That’s a tall order, even for the medium-term.
Walmart Canada To Roll Out World’s Largest Blockchain For An Industrial Application
Walmart Canada and blockchain company DLT Labs collaborated to develop the retail giant’s automated freight tracking and payments system.
The new blockchain-based logistics system will use distributed ledger technology. It will track deliveries, verify transactions, and automate payments and reconciliation for the vast logistics of Walmart Canada.
U.S. National Debt Not Good for Our Kids and Grandkids (Powell); Would Bitcoin Be?
In what should be a wake-up call to the powers-that-be, Federal Reserve Chair Powell warns of unsustainable US national debt.
Speaking during testimony before the Congress’ Joint Economic Committee on Nov. 13, Powell talked of the growing US debt pile. Warning that the growth in debt was outstripping that of growth in GDP, Powell said the issue must be addressed at some point in time. Should we prepare for imploding fiat money by investing in bitcoin?
Paypal Blocks Payments to PornHub Models; Cryptos See Opportunity
Pornhub is up in arms against PayPal for suddenly blocking payments to its 100,000 models.
“We are all devastated by PayPal’s decision to stop payouts to over a hundred thousand performers who rely on them for their livelihoods,” said a notice today on Pornhub.
It appears PayPal has assigned no reason for suddenly getting religion on the subject of model payouts.
New Swiss Regulated Bank is a Bridge Between Traditional Banking and Crypto
Switzerland -headquartered SEBA Bank AG became fully operational on Tuesday and started taking on Swiss customers. It received a banking and securities dealer license from the Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority (FINMA) in August. It lets clients seamlessly convert between the crypto and banking worlds.
With Tencent Backing It, a Virtual Blockchain Bank May Launch Sooner Than You Think
The Hong Kong Monetary Authority has approved the issue of a banking license for a virtual bank to Tencent.
Hong Kong has been quick off the mark to give digital banks the go-ahead. The HKMA has approved licenses so far to eight out of 29 applicants who applied by September 2018. Tencent is the first to propose a blockchain bank.
eToro Bulks Up on Crypto Services; Acquires Delta’s Portfolio Tracker
eToro, the multi-asset social and copy trading brokerage, acquired Delta for a reported $5 million. The portfolio tracker gives a bird’s eye view of the crypto market across 6,000 assets at more than 180 exchanges.
Juniper Research: B2B Cross Border Payments to Boom on Blockchain
Juniper Research predicts that B2B cross-border payments on Blockchain will boom over the next five years. The report suggests that these payments will boom from $171 billion this year to $4.4 trillion by 2024.
Bakkt To Roll Out Bitcoin Options Before CME; Launch Date December 9
Bakkt will gain a lead on CME Group in the race to offer the first regulated options contract for bitcoin futures.
Bakkt is the all-new ICE-sponsored Bitcoin exchange. Bakkt’s bitcoin options will launch on December 9, the exchange said in a blog post published Thursday.
Now, Student Loan Refinance, in Minutes, on the Blockchain
Mike Cagney founded Figure Technologies uses the blockchain to process transactions on its lending platform. The use of the blockchain allows Figure to function paperless, and that helps to speed up its loan procedure.
Bitcoin Goes Vertical After Chinese President Xi Jinping’s Pro-Blockchain Remarks
Bitcoin rallied 16% after Chinese President Xi Jinping called for his country to “seize the opportunity” afforded by blockchain.
Speaking at a Politburo Committee session on blockchain technology trends Thursday, Xi told committee members: “We must take the blockchain as an important breakthrough for independent innovation of core technologies.”
A Blockchain P2P Lending System at Scale Could Render London Bankers Irrelevant
According to Business 5.0 expert John Straw, the blockchain could well disrupt the City of London. And put paid to the taxes that the City generates.
An end to the stream of taxes from the City would effectively spell the end of the NHS. Blockchain-based financial services, based on technology such as Ethereum’s, could consign banks to the annals of history.
Liquefy to Digitize the Landmark Mayfair Luxury Hotel
Hong Kong-based Liquefy will be the provider for a consortium of Gulf families on a real estate digital securities project. The program has $1 billion worth of real estate assets in the pipeline. The first “digitalized” asset will be a luxury hotel in the Mayfair district of London worth $600 million.
Fidelity Ramps Up Crypto Trading and Custody Business
Boston-based financial group Fidelity thinks there is a profitable business to be made out crypto custody services and trading. It may be a smart move because there is a crying shortage of large, reputed players in the ‘Wild West’ world of crypto assets.
Fidelity is building upon its initial launch last autumn of “enterprise-quality” custodianship and trade execution services.
Cars with Blockchain-Based IDs Will Become Wallets (Maybe Even Cryptos)
With a blockchain ID, your electric car could soon become a mobile wallet and pay for tolls, parking, and charging – no cash or cards needed.
BMW, General Motors, Honda, Ford, and Renault have partnered with the Mobility Open Blockchain Initiative (MOBI) to assign blockchain IDs to their cars. The unique ID of each car and its associated ownership data will allow for the car to automatically make payments. These car-related payments could be for charging, parking, highway tolls, and even rest stop snacks.
Libra May Change to Many Country-Specific Stablecoins
The Libra stablecoin, which is to be backed by a basket of fiat currencies, may change its model. David Marcus, Libra’s head, revealed this at a banking seminar.
“We could do it differently,” he said. “Instead of having a synthetic unit … we could have a series of stablecoins, a dollar stablecoin, a euro stablecoin, a sterling pound stable coin, etc.”