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>>> Trump Media Files to Trademark New ETF, SMA Suite
The media company plans to unveil six ETF and SMA products focusing on American manufacturing, energy, and crypto investments.
ETF.com
by DJ Shaw
Feb 06, 2025
https://www.etf.com/sections/news/trump-media-files-trademark-new-etf-sma-suite
Trump Media & Technology Group Corp. (DJT) applied for trademarks for three exchange-traded funds and three separately managed account products under its new Truth.Fi brand. The filing comes just days after the company announced plans to venture into the ETF space.
The move represents TMTG's first concrete step into the investment product space and positions the company to compete in the growing market for politically focused funds, marking what Bloomberg Senior ETF Analyst Eric Balchunas called "the first-ever POTUS ETF issuer. What a country."
TMTG's planned product lineup includes the Truth.Fi Made in America ETF and SMA, Truth.Fi U.S. Energy Independence ETF and SMA, and Truth.Fi Bitcoin Plus ETF and SMA, according to the company's filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Charles Schwab Corp. (SCHW), the fifth-largest U.S. ETF issuer, will custody up to $250 million in investments for the new products, according to the filing. This comes on top of TMTG's cash and cash-equivalent reserves of over $700 million as of year's end.
"We aim to give investors a means to invest in American energy, manufacturing, and other firms that provide a competitive alternative to the woke funds and debanking problems that you find throughout the market," TMTG CEO and former congressman Devin Nunes said in the announcement.
However, Balchunas cautioned that despite Trump's high-profile brand, these funds "will likely be microscopic in asset gathering compared to IBIT, FBTC et al." He added that the launch still "adds to the mainstreamification narrative, which matters."
Trends in Political ETFs
Existing politically conservative ETFs have had mixed results in gathering assets. Bill Flaig, co-founder and CEO of American Conservative Values ETF (ACVF), told etf.com that while there's demand for these products, success largely depends on marketing reach.
"I think most of the startups in the space … have had success gathering assets to the extent that we are getting the message out there," Flaig said. "For the smaller startup ones, it's essentially a function of successful marketing."
These marketing challenges come on top of product construction complexities.
The funds “are going to have to find a durable trend and get in at a reasonable price, and then also make sure that you're expressing that theme accurately," said Bryan Armour, director of passive strategies research at Morningstar. "You need all three of those things to work, and it's obviously an uphill battle for most investors."
DJT shares rose nearly 5.6% in afternoon trading following the announcement.
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>>> Crypto-Focused ETF Applications Surge as SEC Lightens Up
The SEC acknowledged applications for Solana and Litecoin ETFs while the Cboe pushed for XRP products, marking a shift in crypto fund oversight.
ETF.com
by DJ Shaw
Feb 07, 2025
https://www.etf.com/sections/etf-watch/crypto-focused-etf-applications-surge-sec-lightens
Investors may soon have a wider array of crypto-focused investment products from which to choose after the Securities and Exchange Commission acknowledged Grayscale applications for funds based on the spot price of Solana and Litecoin and the Cboe submitted filings for funds based on XRP.
The separate events on Thursday, and a filing by BlackRock to amend its iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT) fund, underscore issuers' growing confidence in the more favorable crypto regulatory environment under the new Trump administration, and their efforts to meet skyrocketing demand for crypto products.
The SEC must still approve the applications. Last year, the regulator approved applications for funds based on the performance of bitcoin and Ethereum, the two largest cryptocurrencies. Solana, Litecoin and XRP have smaller market capitalizations and are lesser known.
Under acting Chair Mark Uyeda, the agency appears more receptive to crypto products than it was under former Chair Gary Gensler, who was considered more hostile toward the industry. Gensler's SEC frequently raised concerns over market manipulation, investor protections, and regulatory clarity.
This leadership change comes as issuers widen their crypto investment offerings to meet soaring demand for these products by consumers and institutional investors.
Evolving Crypto ETF Landscape
According to the filings, the SEC acknowledged Grayscale's applications for both Solana and Litecoin ETFs on Thursday, expanding on its recent review of Canary Capital's Litecoin ETF filing and signaling a broader openness to crypto investment products.
"This is actually newsworthy because the SEC had refused to do this in recent filing attempts for SOL," Bloomberg ETF analyst James Seyffart wrote on X.
The change follows a slew of separate filings Thursday by the Cboe BZX Exchange to list and trade XRP ETFs from four issuers: Bitwise, WisdomTree, Canary Capital, and 21Shares.
Separately, BlackRock Inc. (BLK), the world's largest asset manager, is seeking to modify its existing bitcoin ETF structure. According to an SEC filing, the firm requested permission to allow in-kind redemptions for its IBIT, potentially streamlining the funds operations.
The flurry of activity comes as the industry tests the boundaries under new SEC leadership. Eric Balchunas, senior ETF analyst at Bloomberg Intelligence, wrote in an X post called the developments "notable," suggesting they were "seemingly the direct result of leadership change" at the SEC.
These developments follow Trump Media & Technology Group's (DJT) announcement of plans to launch its own crypto-focused ETF, the TruthFi Bitcoin Plus ETF, further expanding the growing field of digital asset investment products.
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>>> The World’s Most Trustworthy Crypto Exchanges
Forbes
Feb 4, 2025.
By Javier Paz
https://www.forbes.com/sites/javierpaz/2025/01/28/the-worlds-most-trustworthy-crypto-exchanges/
Crypto is riding high once again, but investors still need to be careful about which firm they are using to trade digital assets
Christmas came early for bitcoin this year. On the back of record-breaking launches of ETFs backed by the likes of BlackRock and Fidelity, which have accumulated $112 billion in bitcoin, and president Donald Trump’s reelection in November, the digital asset crossed $100,000. Enthusiasts are expecting 2025 to be more bullish as a pro-crypto congress is coming in power with promises to finally pass regulation that will move the industry out of the proverbial penalty box.
Hype cycles like this create unbridled optimism, and a healthy dose of FOMO, but investors should proceed with caution. And this does not mean which tokens one chooses to speculate in. There are hundreds of crypto exchanges in the world - essentially retail brokerage firms - with fancy websites, attractive features, and yield propositions and promises to keep your money safe.
But all crypto exchanges and marketplaces are not created equal. There are significant differences between the types and number of licenses they hold and how they safeguard your digital assets. Anyone who was burned by the collapse of FTX in 2022 knows how important that can be. Additionally, not every exchange provides the same trading opportunities or charges the same amount. The top firm on Forbes’ third annual Best Crypto Exchange ranking, which analyzed more than 200 firms, is $85 billion Chicago-based CME Group. While this giant futures exchange, founded in 1898 to trade butter and eggs, is not suitable for most retail investors, we gave it high scores because in the wild and wooly world of crypto, safety is paramount and the CME Group is highly regulated by the CFTC. While crypto is still a tiny part of what is traded at CME, during 2024 it traded $1.4 trillion in futures contracts for digital assets such as bitcoin or ether. CME Group offers such things as Micro Bitcoin and Micro Ether futures and options, with minimums of $300 for the smallest of futures contracts, that customers can gain access to via traditional brokerage firms like Charles Schwab and Fidelity.
When it comes to retail oriented exchanges $70 billion (market cap) Coinbase earned the #2 spot in the rankings. Coinbase is the only major publicly-traded cryptocurrency exchange in the U.S. and its customers pay more for this perceived safety in fees and transaction costs. Thanks to some 8 million active accounts, it is the largest custodian of bitcoin in the world, holding 2.4 million worth a staggering $245 billion at current price levels. Asset safety is the most important feature exchange customers demand according to our survey of retail crypto trade.
UK-based Bitstamp, a global exchange with a significant presence in Europe, came in third, with Binance (the world’s largest crypto exchange by trading volume) coming in fourth and Menlo Park-headquartered Robinhood, which is predominantly oriented toward stocks and options, taking fifth place. Robinhood, long criticized for gamifying investing to attract a youthful audience, has become something of a meme headquarters holding $15 billion worth of DOGE coin for clients (Shiba Inu inspired token) and added “dogwifhat” to a list that includes Shiba Inu, PEPE, and BONK. Besides meme coins, Robinhood acquired Luxembourg-based cryptoexchange Bitstamp last July for approximately $200 million, with the firms continuing to operate separately pending the necessary board approvals in the coming months. This acquisition may be the start of a consolidation trend for this highly fragmented industry as the most successful firms attempt to break out from their regional focus.
Binance, absent during last year’s rankings due to legal wranglings, continues to be a dominant firm. It claims to have 245 million registered users and its average daily spot trading volume of around $14 billion represents almost a quarter of the $62 billion. The next biggest exchange, Dubai-based Bybit, only has $8.2 billion. Coinbase has an average daily crypto trading volume of $5.3 billion. Binance’s new management team promises to focus more on compliance, which would be a boon for the crypto compliance sector. The remaining firms in the ranking include some of the most prominent worldwide. In the U.S., leading firms include Kraken, Gemini, Crypto.com, and Fidelity. In South Korea, the two major firms are Upbit and Bithumb, while in Japan, they are Bitbank, bitFlyer, and Coincheck, and in Europe, we recognize Revolut, bitpanda, and Bitvavo.
Together, these firms hold an estimated $1.2 trillion in client assets, and, according to the web analytics firm Similarweb, their websites were frequented by a combined 438 million users in November.
Below, please find the 2025 rankings.
The Top 25
CME GROUP
While not retail focused, CME is the largest regulated bitcoin futures exchange in the world. Its strong 2024 performance caused its crypto trading volume to rise by 135% and its bitcoin open interest - which is the total value of capital tied up in futures contracts - by 83% to more than $20 billion.
COINBASE
Publicly-traded Coinbase custodies more than 12% of all bitcoin in existence. In fact, its Coinbase Custody now holds more than $300 billion of digital assets such as bitcoin, ethereum, and solana. It's not the cheapest place to buy or sell crypto, but its long-standing reputation for safety and security allows the company to charge a premium. Late last year it also registered in Bermuda so that it can compete with the likes of Deribit in the off-shore crypto derivatives business.
BITSTAMP
Luxembourg-based Bitstamp has global operations, but it is particularly strong in Europe. The firm exemplifies many of the criteria valued in the ranking methodology: large asset base, ownership clarity, a credible audit history, and a robust crypto product offering. The firm has agreed to be purchased by Robinhood and approvals by the board are expected in the coming months.
BINANCE
The corrective steps that Binance has taken to address past compliance shortcomings have earned enough credit to return to the Forbes rankings in 2025, and achieve a top-5 placement. The firm is the second largest by assets. While it may not be active in the U.S., it remains the largest by trading volume and is a market leader in BRICS countries and Europe. The firm has a U.S. franchise (Binance.US), which has negligible volume and is unranked. Binance would not disclose ownership details, though founder Changpeng Zhao, who was recently released from prison, likely remains the controlling shareholder. Forbes estimates that CZ is the richest person in crypto with a net worth of $65 billion. The company has also yet to produce an audit, but it does produce regular on-chain snapshots of assets under custody and is working to undergo a formal audit for the first time.
ROBINHOOD
Menlo Park-headquartered Robinhood.com was a huge beneficiary of the November elections. It experienced a 780% trading volume rise compared to a year earlier. What gives? The firm made it easy to bet on election outcomes through novel prediction markets and offers free trading across asset classes. Robinhood is the main global marketplace for memecoins like dogecoin, with these assets growing from $6 billion in October to $15 billion after the election.
BITBANK - One of Japan's top three exchanges, Bitbank (bitbank.cc) features a photo of star Dodgers pitcher Yoshinobu Yamamoto on its homepage. Among the three firms from the East Asian nation in the rankings, Bitbank offers low trading costs on popular altcoins. Its steady high ranking also comes from its transparency, audited finances, and crypto holdings.
UPBIT
Upbit is one of two largest South Korean crypto exchanges, serving almost 10 million clients. It is one of the top 10 largest holders of bitcoin. Owned by Song Chi-hyung, one of Korea's wealthiest investors, the exchange focuses on the trading of payment tokens XRP and XLM even over bitcoin. Korean regulators are currently investigating the firm's know-your-customer practices after identifying a large number of documentation irregularities as part of Upbit's license renewal application. Upbit responded to Forbes that all domestic exchanges are being reviewed, no decisions have been made, and that the alleged large number of irregularities have not been verified.
BITGET
In what was a marketing stroke of genius, Bitget launched a partnership with soccer legend Lionel Messi in October 2022 before he captained the Argentina squad to win the World Cup that year and the Copa America in 2024. The result of that multi-year campaign brought tens of millions of accounts to the exchange. Though the exchange is legally based in the Seychelles, most employees are based in the Singapore region according to LinkedIn. The exchange was also the first to popularize the practice of copy trading in a crypto setting, where customers can automatically execute trades that mimic the best performers.This activity now brings in 20% of all of its volume.
DERIBIT
Dubai-based Deribit is a giant in the offshore derivatives space, where much like the CME traders can bet on the future price of assets with leverage. The firm specializes in options, which gives the purchasers the right, buy or sell tokens at specified prices over a set period of time. In particular, options are the instrument of choice to hedge exposure to volatile instruments and execute simple alpha generating strategies like a carry trade. Deribit holds notional crypto open interest - the capital tied up in derivatives contracts - worth more than $30 billion. Moreover, in 2024 its volume grew 95% to $1.2 trillion. Its foray into spot, futures, and perpetual trading broadened to create something of a one-stop shop for its institutional clients. Also, it secured its spot and derivatives licenses in Dubai, a credible derivatives regulator. The firm is said to be entertaining offers from suitors, including Kraken, but told Forbes that it's not trying to sell itself.
GEMINI
The bitcoin-led run has lifted Gemini's holdings by 34% in the past six months to $19 billion. The firm, owned by billionaire twins Tyler and Cameron Winklevoss, has obtained licenses in France and Singapore, boosting its international footprint in 2024. Despite these changes, the exchange trimmed 10% of its workforce late 2024 to remain lean.
KRAKEN
U.S.-based Kraken holds more than $30 billion for clients and has an ample product line and lower cost offering than exchanges like Coinbase. The company has been looking for strategic acquisitions with a major focus on launching an offshore derivatives business..
REVOLUT
UK-based Revolut is a private digital bank valued at $45 billion that has raised multiple rounds from the likes of DST Global, TCV, Tiger Global, and SoftBank. It holds client assets of more than $22 billion for 50+ million clients across a variety of services, including payments, savings, investing, and crypto. It aims to be the JPMorgan Chase of a new generation, supporting a mobile-first approach to an umbrella of financial services. Crypto trading is available via an ultra-low cost web platform or the much more expensive app version. Most clients continue to use the latter but since late 2024 have started to migrate to the less costly Revolut X platform, where they can also trade more than 200 tokens.
CRYPTO.COM
Owned by its founders Kris Marszalek, Rafael Melo, Bobby Bao, and Gary Or, Crypto.com boasts one of the most recognizable names in cryptoland. It dropped $700 million for 20-year naming rights to the arena home of the Los Angeles Lakers and renewed a 9-figure Champions League partnership in Europe in 2024. Fee pricing information is not visible on its U.S. website nor was it provided to Forbes, but CoinGecko measures its spreads alone at 52 basis points - more than 2x wider than Coinbase’s. CoinGecko also considers its reported volume highly inflated, and discounts it by 80% to 90%. More importantly, Arkham data shows that the firm’s holdings of bitcoin, ethereum, and stablecoins stood at $5.7 billion in mid January, down from $10 billion on Christmas day, which the company says reflects the move of U.S. and Canadian funds to its U.S. Trust company.
FIDELITY
What a year it has been for financial services giant Fidelity ($15 trillion in client assets) and its Fidelity Crypto offering. Fidelity Investments’ spot bitcoin ETP FBTC reached its 1-year anniversary with $20 billion in AUM, while Fidelity Digital Assets holds $35 billion worth of crypto (primarily bitcoin) according to Arkham. While Fidelity does not consider itself to be a cryptocurrency exchange like Coinbase, Fidelity Crypto offers clients trading in bitcoin, ether, and litecoin with a spread of 1% (100 basis points) per trade. Fidelity Crypto and Fidelity Investments operate under separate regulatory requirements and users require separate accounts should they want to buy its ETF FBTC alongside direct holdings in bitcoin or ethereum.
HASHKEY EXCHANGE
A division of Hong Kong-based HashKey Digital Asset Group Limited, Hashkey Exchange is one of only two crypto exchanges licensed under Hong Kong’s novel digital assets regime. The parent group is a conglomerate of firms with a regulatory-first approach to operating in crypto assets and Web3 investing. While still small - there are less than 150 employees at HashKey Exchange and sister entity HashKey Global – the exchanges report having a combined 145,000 retail customers and nearly 300 institutional ones. There are marked differences in pricing, however, with HashKey Exchange charging a 29bp trading fee and 16bp average spread, compared to 12bp fee and 206bp in average spread at HashKey Global, which serves customers outside of Hong Kong under separate licenses.
OKX
OKX, which was originally Ok Coin, did not participate in the Forbes survey but its recent pivot to become a much more regulated entity and considerable size compelled us to include it in our rankings. It gained regulatory licenses in France, Turkey, Dubai, Singapore, and Australia, and it signed up for a sponsorship of the McLaren Formula 1 team. It holds at least $15 billion worth of bitcoin and ethereum, and its website attracted more than 22 million unique visitors in November – with a quarter of them coming from the United States, Italy, the Russian Federation, and Egypt. The firm’s product offering is large while its fee structure is very attractive, with a 10bp fee and average spreads of 21bp - the third lowest trading costs out there among regulated entities.
BYBIT
Dubai-based Bybit is another major crypto provider, frequently among the ones reporting the highest trading volume, that has pivoted to become more regulated. Bybit has obtained licenses in the Netherlands, Turkey, and Canada, but at least a third of its considerable 26 million visitors come from the Russian-Ukraine war zone, a region subject to US sanctions. While the pursuit of regulatory licenses has started in earnest, the firm’s prior approach of doing business before securing the needed licensing resulted in it being blacklisted in France, banned in Hong Kong, and temporarily suspended in India. A big part of Bybit’s appeal with end users has been its low fees, which are on par with those of Binance and OKX.
HTX
Formerly Huobi Global, HTX is an exchange with China roots that founder Leon Li sold to About Capital Management, a Hong Kong investment firm in 2022. About Capital is owned by Tron founder Justin Sun. HTX secured licenses in Australia, Dubai, and Lithuania in 2022 and participated on the Forbes survey for the first time, signaling its desire for greater transparency. Even so, the firm has yet to disclose the beneficial owners of its parent company, get additional licenses, and go through credible financial audits to rise in the rankings.
BITFLYER
The Tokyo-based exchange custodies the most crypto assets in its home market ($4 billion) and touts 0% to 0.1% trading fees. BitFlyer is regulated in Japan, the U.S, and Europe. It was founded with backing from Japanese insurance, banking, and brokerage giants like Mitsubishi UFJ Capital, SBI Investment, and Dai-ichi Life Insurance. The company re-appointed co-founder Yuzo Kano as CEO after an ownership and management spat was resolved in March 2023, and he stated plans to take the exchange public.
SWISSBORG
As its name suggests, privately owned Swissborg got its origins in Switzerland thanks to a $52 million cash infusion from the exchange’s own initial coin offering (BORG) and in which 23,000 retail investors participated. What makes this smaller Western European exchange stand out is its pursuit of credible crypto regulation (France’s AMF, the SEC counterpart) and its adaptation of thematic investing to crypto - think investors using $500 to buy a collection of the larger coins in defi, memes, gaming, and real world assets without having to select them by themselves. Its fees are relatively high, however.
COINCHECK
One of the top three Japanese exchanges. It holds more than $5 billion in client assets today. Its current offering is limited to eight crypto assets traded against the yen, and fees are low/free depending on the pair but its 181 spread is very wide. In December 2024, its CNCK shares went public on Nasdaq with a $1.2 billion valuation.
BITFINEX
Launched in 2012, Bitfinex shares the same leadership of Tether, the company behind the $138 billion stablecoin that dominates the crypto trading industry. Though the firm lists the British Virgin Islands as its headquarters, LinkedIn shows that most of its employees are based in the United States and United Kingdom. The firm has licenses from smaller countries like El Salvador and Kazakhstan, but two thirds of Bitfinex web traffic comes from jurisdictions where the firm is not regulated: Europe, the US, South Korea and Japan. Still, Bitfinex Securities has secured a tokenization partnership with illustrious Lazard Group, the Swiss asset manager with 175-years in operation and $245 billion under management.
BITVAVO
Bitvavo is a Netherlands-based crypto exchange that primarily serves its home country, Belgium, Germany, and Thailand. It claims to have 1.5 million active customers and Arkham indicates it holds more than $2 billion worth of bitcoin and ethereum for clients. Its considerable $545 million daily spot volume - which is higher than more prominent exchanges like Gemini and Bitfinex - is supported by a low fee and average spread totalling approximately 40 bp.
BITHUMB
Originally launched as btckorea more than 10 years ago, Bithumb has grown to be the largest Korean by web traffic and is gearing up for a possible IPO either in the U.S. on Nasdaq or Korea's Kosdaq exchange in late 2025. The exchange offers trading in 348 coins and is particularly active these days in meme coin DOGE and Korea's local stablecoin pair USDT/KRW. Its standard fee of 25bp and average daily spread of 50bp put it in the middle of the pack of ranked peers.
BITPANDA
Vienna-based Bitpanda is regulated as a payments firm, e-money provider and virtual-asset provider in Austria and France, allowing it to offer its services to all of continental Europe. It combines crypto services with traditional brokerage of stocks, ETFs, indexes, precious metals and other commodities. It charges a stiff 1.5% in commissions or fees plus spread, but it has developed partnerships with major German banks like Deutsche Bank and Landesbank Baden-Wuerttemberg to let its users convert crypto to fiat and vice versa via the German IBAN rails.
Crypto Trading Fees & Spreads
Many investors prioritize low fees when deciding where to trade crypto. Most exchanges post their prices for sellers or purchasers online, respectively known as “maker” and “taker” fees; but they do not tell the whole story. Traders also need to be aware of a term called spread, which is the difference between a quoted buying and selling prices in an orderbook. The size of the spread varies by exchange and trading pair, but a general rule of thumb is that platforms with high volume have lower spreads. And vice versa.
Our research revealed that the weighted cost of execution in the crypto market among ranked firms today, and inclusive of spread, is 80 basis points. To do this analysis we used the cost of trading reported by crypto providers to us or via their website, plus average spread information from CoinGecko. The specific test looked at what it would cost to purchase $25,000 of crypto without any volume discounts or other promotions.
While trading fees can be relatively easily controlled, spread is a function of a provider’s overall liquidity. Among ranked firms, the average spread was 64 basis points (bp), with Upbit, Coincheck, and Bitstamp averaging 241bp, 181bp, and 143bp, respectively, as the costliest firms.[ One hundred basis points is the equivalent of one percentage point.] Coinbase’s 19bp spread was among the lowest and slightly bested Binance’s 21bp. There is a lot of variance among firm, if a trader wants to know the cheapest place to buy or sell crypto, it is important to evaluate both the posted fees and spread together.
The chart above shows both fees and spreads and demonstrates that the biggest exchanges by market share tend to have the lowest trading cost, with the exception of Coinbase. Robinhood, which caters to retail traders, has a zero-fee trading model but the numbers above fail to incorporate the spreads,which in Robinhood’s case are a core part of their business model since they sell order flow.
U.S. exchanges with more than a decade of crypto service such as Coinbase and Kraken continue to enjoy high demand despite higher trading costs. Eventually fee compression from competition from firms like Robinhood could drive fees down.
There are several firms that have both expensive and cheap alternatives for heavy users, and Coinbase and Revolut are perfect examples. Coinbase retail clients averaged fees of 126 basis points. But in an effort to retain low-volume but high fee-paying clients the company created a monthly subscription service called Coinbase One that would eliminate fees. Prices range between $30-$300/month depending on volume. A majority of Revolut clients trade using their traditional app and pay 249bp on average, but the firm launched a web platform called Revolut X in select countries late last year that is priced at 10 basis points per trade and is gaining heavy traction.
Crypto Geography
By Forbes measurement, there were no less than half a billion crypto users globally at the end of 2024.
We enlisted the help of web analytics firm SimilarWeb, to help us determine where the most crypto traders were. The map below gives an estimation of the geographic dispersion of crypto investors.
The largest concentration of traders is in the Asia-Pacific region, which has 160 million visitors. Europe was next with 134 million. The US and Canada added another 56 million. Latin America and the Caribbean had 40 million traders, and Africa was the lowest at 18 million.
Traffic to crypto providers is highly concentrated, with 12 ranked firms and 3 unranked firms each having 10+ million unique visitors. Firms like Binance, Crypto.com, and Bitget prominently display the number of “users” on their website in the tens or hundreds of millions, without defining the term. These firms, along with many others surveyed for this study, did not provide up to date figures on active accounts. However, monthly SimilarWeb data provides a clearer picture and approximate number of users that is consistent across all exchanges.
This analysis reveals that Binance, for example, had 75 million unique users (17% of the total) compared to Coinbase’s 56 million (13%). Robinhood was fourth at 37 million.
But aside from these major global exchanges, there are some providers that focus on just one or two domiciles. The 49 million traders in South Korea are primarily serviced by two major institutions, Bithumb and Upbit, who received a combined total of 70% of all crypto exchange visitors. Much of the remainder went to larger offshore exchanges like Binance, ByBit, and Bitget. While these exchanges are ranked, none are actually licensed to operate in South Korea. The top three firms servicing Japan's 16 million visitors are Bitflyer, Coincheck, and Bitbank, while Germany’s 15 million go to Austria-based Bitpanda along with Bitget, and Binance. In India, Binance is the biggest exchange, accounting for essentially all of the of the country’s 6 million monthly visitors. The biggest local exchange operating in the south-Asian country is CoinDCX, which received 1.1 million visitors. Turning to Latin America, Brazil’s 14 million visitors primarily went to Binance, Singapore-based Gate.io (which has a sponsorship deal with soccer star Lionel Messi), and Coinbase. Finally, because Russia continues to be under US sanctions, American exchanges like Coinbase, Robinhood, and Kraken do not have a presence in those countries. Given its 18 million monthly users, Russia remains a major crypto trading hub. The biggest destinations are ByBit (6.7 million), HTX (3.5 million), and Binance (2.4 million).
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>>> SEC requests a pause in legal battle with Binance as the agency adapts a crypto-friendly stance
AP
2-11-25
by ALAN SUDERMAN
https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/companies/sec-requests-a-pause-in-legal-battle-with-binance-as-the-agency-adapts-a-crypto-friendly-stance/ar-AA1yQDgu?ocid=TobArticle
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission is seeking to pause its high-profile lawsuit against the cryptocurrency exchange Binance as the regulator tries to present itself as more crypto-friendly under a new administration.
Binance and the SEC filed a joint motion Monday asking for a 60-day stay in a lawsuit the regulator filed with significant fanfare two years ago under its previous chairman, Gary Gensler.
Monday’s filing in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia said the SEC approached Binance asking for the pause. The regulator said the work of a new crypto task force launched by Acting Chairman Mark Uyeda that's supposed to improve ties to the crypto industry “may impact and facilitate the potential resolution of this case.”
The filing is the first “tangible action in existing enforcement actions that recognizes a change in direction of the agency,” said Carol Goforth, a distinguished professor at the University of Arkansas School of Law.
Binance is the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange – a digital marketplace where customers can buy, sell and store different types of crypto -- and the SEC’s lawsuit drew considerable attention when first filed.
Gensler said in a statement at the time that Binance and its founder, Changpeng Zhao, had engaged in an extensive “web of deception” while the SEC’s X account posted a graphic highlighting a key piece of evidence of alleged wrongdoing: a quote from Binance’s chief compliance officer saying to another employee in 2018, “We are operating as a fking unlicensed securities exchange in the USA bro.”
Related video: Trump’s AI and Crypto Czar Backs Stablecoin Bill, Pushing for Clear Digital Asset Rules (Benzinga (Video))
In a separate case, Binance later agreed to pay a roughly $4 billion settlement and Zhao pleaded guilty to a felony related to his failure to prevent money laundering on the platform.
A key issue facing the cryptocurrency industry is whether certain digital assets should be regulated as securities – a position that the SEC under Gensler supported while many in the crypto industry are opposed.
Cryptocurrencies are a kind of electronic cash that have moved from the financial fringes to the mainstream in rapid fits and starts, despite being marred by scandals and market meltdowns.
The SEC has targeted crypto exchanges like Binance, Coinbase and others for allegedly operating unregistered securities exchanges. That scrutiny came after the high-profile meltdown of FTX, the exchange founded by disgraced crypto mogul Sam Bankman-Fried.
The industry said it was unfairly treated by the Biden administration, and Gensler in particular, and spent heavily to help Trump and Republicans in the last election. Trump and GOP lawmakers have signaled their eagerness to help the crypto industry with friendly legislation and light-touch regulations.
Uyeda launched the new crypto task force last month, saying the agency needed a reset in its approach to crypto.
“To date, the SEC has relied primarily on enforcement actions to regulate crypto retroactively and reactively, often adopting novel and untested legal interpretations along the way,” the agency said in announcing the task force. “Clarity regarding who must register, and practical solutions for those seeking to register, have been elusive.”
Legal experts said the pause in the Binance case could indicate similar changes in the SEC’s ongoing legal action against other crypto exchanges.
“I would expect that all of these cases will be either dismissed outright or settled on very favorable terms to the defendants,” said James Murphy, a securities law expert.
That's bad news, said Corey Frayer, a former SEC official who recently left the agency.
“The SEC delaying what appears to be a slam dunk case in Binance while welcoming crypto’s return to its pre-FTX days is a bad omen for any other ongoing crypto litigation,” he said.
In a statement, Binance said the SEC’s case “has always been without merit” and praised Uyeda for “his thoughtful approach to ensuring digital assets receive the appropriate legislative and regulatory focus in this new, golden era of blockchain in the U.S. and around the world.”
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>>> U.S. endowments add crypto holdings to diversify investments: FT
Seeking Alpha
2-9-25
https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/other/u-s-endowments-add-crypto-holdings-to-diversify-investments-ft/ar-AA1yHb0J?apiversion=v2&noservercache=1&domshim=1&renderwebcomponents=1&wcseo=1&batchservertelemetry=1&noservertelemetry=1
Charitable organizations and university endowments in the United States are increasing their holdings of cryptocurrencies amid a rush into digital assets after President Donald Trump pledged to turn the country into a “bitcoin superpower,” the Financial Times reported on Sunday.
The University of Austin, founded last year in the Texas capital, is raising $5 million for the country’s first-ever bitcoin fund, part of its $200 million endowment. Georgia’s Emory University in October became the first college whose endowment disclosed holdings of bitcoin exchange-traded funds.
They’re among the colleges that have sought to diversify their investment portfolios with cryptocurrencies, which as an asset class have outperformed others amid significant price swings. An index compiled by Bitwise Asset Management that tracks the 10 most valuable cryptocurrencies gained 64% a year in the past five years, beating the 14.5% for U.S. stocks, the FT reported.
Yale University’s endowment in 2018 invested in two cryptocurrency venture funds, when bitcoin prices were less than a tenth of today’s level.
The Rockefeller Foundation, which oversees $4.8 billion and focuses on funding medical research and the arts, is weighing whether to increase its cryptocurrency holdings after investing two crypto venture funds two years ago.
Fear of missing out on an asset class that has potential to become more valuable is one reason to increase exposure to crypto, with Chun Lai, the foundation’s chief investment officer, telling the newspaper: “We don’t want to be left behind when their potential materializes dramatically.”
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Installing the CBDC plumbing under the guise of crytpo, while 'sellout Don' lines his pockets. And the media is fine with it -
>>> Trump is melding the worlds of upstart crypto and old-school finance
Yahoo Finance
by David Hollerith
February 2, 2025
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/trump-is-melding-the-worlds-of-upstart-crypto-and-old-school-finance-143007299.html
Old-school finance and the upstart world of crypto are coming closer together as President Donald Trump encourages more favorable regulation of digital assets while also participating financially in their rising popularity.
The latest example of this confluence came this past week when the president’s namesake Trump Media & Technology Group (DJT) announced plans to expand into financial services by launching a company called Truth.Fi.
Trump Media will allocate up to $250 million of Truth.Fi’s cash into cryptocurrencies and other investments. The company keeping custody of those funds will be one of America’s best-known financial giants: Charles Schwab (SCHW).
Some other big names on Wall Street may soon be looking to hold crypto assets for their clients as a result of a change put in place by Trump’s administration during his first week in office.
The Securities and Exchange Commission decided to eliminate a piece of accounting guidance known as Staff Accounting Bulletin 121 (SAB 121) that called for financial institutions to hold crypto on their balance sheet as a liability.
The old guidance made it too costly for most regulated banks to offer crypto custody. It also called for heightened public disclosures from non-bank financial firms such as Coinbase Global (COIN), a major cryptocurrency exchange.
"Bye, bye SAB 121! It's not been fun," SEC commissioner Hester Peirce said in an X post celebrating the change.
Kevin Fromer, CEO of bank advocacy group Financial Services Forum, called the SEC rule change "a step in the right direction."
'Crypto will become a more common investment'
The thinking within crypto circles is that this one step is part of a directional shift that will ultimately encourage more banking giants to deal with digital assets. Such a shift would bring wider acceptance of the industry.
Letting more US financial institutions hold digital assets will lead to "a greater level of integration of crypto in mainstream financial channels," said Jeffrey Neuburger, head of the blockchain group at law firm Proskauer.
What's more, "crypto is likely to become a more common investment asset like securities, gold, or other precious metals," Neuburger added.
Banks are still waiting for new guidance on crypto assets from the Federal Reserve, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC).
The current regulatory guidance from those agencies — released weeks after a 2022 crypto meltdown that followed the collapse of cryptocurrency exchange FTX — cautions banks about the risk of engaging in crypto activities or even providing the industry with banking services.
The Trump administration has yet to nominate new heads for the FDIC and OCC, and the Federal Reserve must also name a new top banking regulator following Michael Barr’s decision to step down as vice chair for supervision by the end of February.
Fed Chair Jerome Powell, when asked this past week about cryptocurrencies, said, "We're not against innovation and we certainly don't want to take actions that would cause banks to terminate customers who are perfectly legal."
But he also cautioned that "if you're making a choice to conduct that activity inside a bank, which is inside the federal safety net with deposit insurance, then you want to be pretty sure that that is a safe and sound activity."
Trump has made it clear that he wants his administration to support the expansion of the crypto industry. One of the first moves was to assemble a digital assets working group within the executive branch led by artificial intelligence and crypto czar David Sacks.
Its goal is to “support the responsible growth and use of digital assets, blockchain technology, and related technologies across all sectors of the economy.”
The SEC also formed a "crypto task force" to help the US regulator "draw clear regulatory lines, provide realistic paths to registration, craft sensible disclosure frameworks, and deploy enforcement resources judiciously.”
The president is also participating in the cryptocurrency industry. Just before his inauguration, Trump’s team launched an official meme coin for the 47th president (TRUMP) along with one for first lady Melania Trump (MELANIA) on the Solana (SOL) blockchain.
'We're going to have to up our game'
There is a lot more US banks might be able to do with crypto, so long as their Washington overseers allow it.
Those options could range from offering customers crypto or related exchange-traded funds to issuing stablecoins for payments, trading crypto for clients, and even managing deposits on blockchain platforms.
"I'm not sure that every bank out there has been dying to hold crypto assets," Ian Katz, a financial regulation analyst for Capital Alpha Partners, told Yahoo Finance. But lenders "would rather trust their own risk management and their own decision making than have it be decided by regulators."
Bosses of the some of the biggest banks are certainly giving the topic more consideration.
"For us, the equation is really around whether we, as a highly regulated financial institution, can act as transactors," Morgan Stanley (MS) CEO Ted Pick told CNBC during the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.
"We'll be working with Treasury and the other regulators to figure out how we can offer that in a safe way," Pick added.
Bank of America (BAC) CEO Brian Moynihan told CNBC at that same event that “if the rules come in and make it a real thing that you can actually do business with, you’ll find that the banking system will come in hard on the transactional side of it.”
Phil Green, chief executive of Cullen/Frost Bankers (CFR), told Yahoo Finance that “it makes sense to me that the banking industry would have a role in custody. I think that makes sense for us to consider. But it's really more about what the clients want."
"If President Trump is advocating for it, and you're seeing more stuff happen, no doubt, it will be more top of mind with people so I expect that we're going to have to up our game," Green added.
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>>> Coinbase seen benefiting from possible medium-term jump in Bitcoin price - Mizuho
Investing.com
January 29, 2025
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/coinbase-seen-benefiting-possible-medium-133801360.html
Investing.com - Crypto exchange Coinbase could benefit from possible growth in the price of Bitcoin grow over the medium-term fueled by rising adoption of the world's most popular cryptocurrency, according to analysts at Mizuho (NYSE:MFG).
In a note to clients, the analysts led by Dan Dolev argued that global enthusiasm surrounding the finite number of Bitcoins in existence as well as a more favorable regulatory environment under new U.S. President Donald Trump "are likely sufficient catalysts for price appreciation". Assuming adoption growth continues "on a similar trajectory", the analysts estimated that the annual price increase of Bitcoin by 2027 could be between 25% to 30%.
The trend may bode well for Coinbase (NASDAQ:COIN), which the analysts said has a strong correlation with the cost of Bitcoin. They subsequently raised their rating of the stock to "neutral" from "underperform".
Bitcoin slipped slightly on Wednesday as bargain buying after a recent rout provided only limited support and focus shifted to an impending Federal Reserve interest rate decision. By 07:52 ET (12:52 GMT), Bitcoin had fallen 0.2% to $102,393.2.
Market sentiment remained somewhat fragile after investor concerns over the implications a low-cost artificial intelligence model from Chinese start-up DeepSeek battered global financial markets on Monday. A jump in popularity of the model called into question the necessity of massive AI spending plans put forward by tech industry giants.
Nasdaq 100 futures on Wednesday pointed to an extension in the tech-heavy index's rebound from the sharp sell-off earlier in the week. Equities on Wall Street stabilized on Tuesday, with the Nasdaq Composite gaining 392 points or 2.0%.
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Fed's Bill Dudley joins Coinbase - >>> Coinbase adds Trump campaign manager, ex-senator to advisory council
U.S. Senators Chris Murphy (D-CT) and Kyrsten Sinema (I-AZ) at the U.S. Capitol in Washington
Reuters
by Manya Saini
January 29, 2025
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/trump-campaign-manager-ex-senator-133049421.html
(Reuters) -Crypto exchange Coinbase on Wednesday added four high-profile members to its global advisory council, including former U.S. Senator Kyrsten Sinema and Chris LaCivita, co-campaign manager for President Donald Trump's re-election.
Drafting a framework for the growth of the crypto sector has been a top priority for the Trump administration after years of enforcement actions that the industry has criticized as regulatory overreach.
The crypto industry donated millions of dollars to support Trump's return to the White House and expectations of a more favorable regulatory setup powered bitcoin to record highs in 2024, surpassing $100,000 for the first time.
"Crypto is now firmly on the radar of corporates, banks and institutions, weaving itself into the very fabric of our financial systems," analysts at Bernstein said, adding that bitcoin remains on its path to $200,000.
The new additions at Coinbase include Bill Dudley, former president of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York and Luis Alberto Moreno, a global development and international finance expert.
Earlier this month, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's new leadership created a task force to develop a regulatory framework for crypto assets.
Trump has also named former PayPal executive David Sacks as his "White House A.I. & Crypto Czar." The administration is expected to reshape U.S. policy on digital currency.
Support from Wall Street institutions and corporate titans such as Elon Musk as well as the approval of U.S. exchange-traded crypto funds have boosted the sector's mainstream appeal even as a lack of regulatory clarity remains a persistent drag.
Coinbase shares are likely to benefit from a further upside in bitcoin over the medium term, analysts at Mizuho wrote in a note. "Rising tide lifts all moats," the brokerage said.
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>>> Trump executive order delivers on 2 promises he made to crypto world
Yahoo Finance
by David Hollerith
January 23, 2025
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/trump-executive-order-delivers-on-2-promises-he-made-to-crypto-world-223600819.html
President Donald Trump signed an executive action Thursday that satisfies two promises he made to the cryptocurrency world.
The order created a presidential group to coordinate the establishment of clear regulation for the digital assets industry and prohibited the creation of central bank digital currencies (CBDCs).
What it didn't authorize was the immediate creation of a "strategic national bitcoin stockpile," as Trump also promised during the 2024 campaign.
Instead, it directed the new working group to evaluate "the potential creation and maintenance of a national digital asset stockpile," as well as proposing "criteria for establishing such a stockpile, potentially derived from cryptocurrencies lawfully seized by the Federal Government through its law enforcement efforts."
That potentially widens the scope of what crypto the government may hold in this stockpile beyond just bitcoin (BTC-USD).
Trump also revoked a March 2022 executive order from President Joe Biden that called for various government agencies to study crypto assets and encouraged all agencies to "take strong steps to reduce the risks that digital assets could pose."
Bitcoin rose slightly after Trump signed the executive action and then fell. It was marginally higher for the last 24 hours after hitting an all-time high early Monday ahead of Trump's inauguration.
Some in the crypto market may have been hoping for more, according to Sean Farrell, head of digital assets for Fundstrat.
"What was issued today, I guess, was priced in," Farrell told Yahoo Finance.
Still, he added, the president's pro-crypto stance is "huge" for the industry's future.
Last year, Trump pledged to make the United States the "crypto capital of the planet." Last Friday, Trump’s team launched an official meme coin for the incoming 47th president (TRUMP), along with one for first lady Melania Trump (MELANIA) on the Solana (SOL) blockchain. They began trading on Sunday.
On Thursday, he reiterated his support for the industry during a virtual speech at the World Economic Forum, saying he planned to make the US “the world capital of artificial intelligence and crypto."
The presidential working group will work to develop a federal regulatory framework for crypto markets. The group will be chaired by White House AI and crypto czar David Sacks and include the Treasury secretary, SEC chair, and other various financial regulatory heads.
That working group will include the identification of all regulations, guidance documents, and orders that affect crypto within 30 days by various government agencies and recommendations with respect to each of those items within 60 days.
Additionally, within 180 days, the working group will submit a report to the president with regulatory and legislative proposals and recommendations.
"The administration is making a significant first step toward writing clear, consistent rules of the road," Anchorage Digital CEO Nathan McCauley wrote in emailed comments.
"We look forward to engaging with the president’s working group as Washington works to get it right on crypto," McCauley added.
Other regulatory developments for the crypto world are already materializing due to the Trump administration's stance on the industry. On Thursday, the Securities and Exchange Commission rescinded a piece of accounting guidance known as SAB 121 that posed a significant roadblock for banks and broker-dealers seeking to hold crypto in custody for clients.
Earlier this week, Coinbase Global (COIN) CEO Brian Armstrong told Yahoo Finance Trump should create a strategic bitcoin reserve given that it already has a gold reserve.
"The world is moving to a bitcoin standard for money. Any government who holds gold should also hold bitcoin as a reserve," Armstrong said.
Trump can likely order the US government to cease selling the cryptocurrency it has lawfully claimed through seizures and forfeitures that proponents have argued could help stabilize the US economy, strengthen the US dollar, and even eventually help pay down some of the $35 trillion in national debt.
But further steps actually calling for the government to purchase more crypto — as proposed by Senator Cynthia Lummis — may likely need congressional approval.
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>>> Anchorage Digital is a regulated crypto platform that provides institutions with integrated financial services and infrastructure solutions. With the only federally chartered crypto bank in the US, as well as Anchorage Digital Singapore, which offers equivalent security and service standards, Anchorage Digital provides institutions an unparalleled combination of secure custody, regulatory compliance, product breadth, and client service.
Founded in 2017, Anchorage Digital is valued at over $3 billion with funding from leading institutions including Andreessen Horowitz, GIC—Singapore’s sovereign wealth fund, Goldman Sachs, KKR, and Visa. Headquartered in San Francisco, California, Anchorage Digital is remote-friendly with offices in New York, New York; Porto, Portugal; Singapore; and Sioux Falls, South Dakota.
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https://www.crunchbase.com/organization/anchorage?utm_source=yahoo&utm_medium=referral&utm_content=profile_cta&utm_campaign=yahoo_finance
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From grifting Joe to grifting Don -
>>> Trump Takes Office as a Newly Minted Crypto Billionaire
The Trump family’s new crypto tokens, which went on sale over the weekend, have soared in value — along with crypto markets in general.
The New York Times
By Bernhard Warner
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/01/20/business/trump-memcoins-crypto.html
The Trump family’s new crypto tokens are worth well over $10 billion on paper, after a frenzied rally pushed up the value of the digital assets in the days before the inauguration.
The so-called memecoins got another boost on Monday when Robinhood, the trading platform that made a big donation to Mr. Trump’s inauguration fund, began letting its customers trade the $TRUMP coin. Memecoins, a type of cryptocurrency tied to an online joke or a celebrity mascot, are not often available to trade on major platforms.
Mr. Trump announced the launch of the new token, known as $Trump, on Friday night. Another token, $Melania, went on sale late on Sunday. Trump affiliates appear to control a majority of the tokens, which will be released gradually over the coming years.
Before the tokens started trading, Forbes had listed Mr. Trump’s net worth as $6.7 billion, most of that coming from Trump Media and Technology Group, which runs the social media platform Truth Social.
Ethics watchdogs have warned of deepening conflicts of interest as Mr. Trump returns to the White House, with the tokens creating new opportunities for executives, crypto traders and companies inside and outside the United States to curry favor with the Trump administration.
A onetime crypto skeptic, Mr. Trump embraced the digital currency industry last year, promising to turn the United States into the “crypto capital of the planet.” In September, he and his sons helped start a crypto business, World Liberty Financial. He has also tapped advocates for looser regulation of crypto to key regulatory and advisory positions in his administration.
Crypto markets have risen sharply since Mr. Trump’s election victory. The price of Bitcoin hit a fresh record high on Monday, jumping above $109,000.
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Slimeball Don - >>> Donald Trump Launches $TRUMP Meme Coin—Token Hits $9 Billion Market Cap
by Ty Roush
Forbes
Jan 19, 2025
https://www.forbes.com/sites/tylerroush/2025/01/19/donald-trump-launches-trump-meme-coin-token-exceeds-12-billion-market-cap/
Topline A new meme coin launched by President-elect Donald Trump on Friday has a market capitalization of about $9 billion—after hitting a peak of over $15 billion early Sunday—marking Trump’s latest venture into cryptocurrency and merchandise sales in the lead-up to his inauguration.
Key Facts
Trump announced the launch of his meme coin, $TRUMP, in a Truth Social post late Friday, saying the cryptocurrency is celebrating “WINNING” the presidential election and his upcoming inauguration.
Shortly after launching, the price of $TRUMP rapidly rose by more than 300% by Saturday morning, and it kept rallying Saturday night and early Sunday morning—before paring back some of its gains later Sunday.
The digital asset hovered at just over $46 as of 5:25 p.m. EST Sunday, with a market cap of $9.36 billion, according to CoinMarketCap.
The asset—hosted on the Solana blockchain—briefly surpassed $75 early Sunday morning, bringing the total market cap of all tokens in circulation to a peak of $15 billion.
The meme coin’s developers have limited the supply of $TRUMP to 200 million coins at launch before expanding the overall supply to 1 billion over the next three years, according to the coin’s website.
The remaining 80% of tokens that have yet to be publicly released are owned by the Trump Organization affiliate CIC Digital LLC and Fight Fight Fight LLC, a company formed in Delaware on Jan. 7, according to state filings, and both companies will receive an undisclosed amount of revenue derived from trading activity.
The token’s website includes a disclaimer noting $TRUMP is “not intended to be, or the subject of” an investment opportunity nor a security of any type, and is “not political and has nothing to do with” any political campaign, political office or government agency.
Big Number
$36.15 billion. That’s the trading volume of $TRUMP in the 24 hours ending Sunday at 5:25 p.m.
Is Melania Coin Related?
Incoming First Lady Melania Trump also launched a crypto asset called $MELANIA on Sunday, and the president-elect retweeted her announcement. The meme coin is also based on the Solana blockchain.
Key Background
Trump, whose campaign was backed by several billionaires with ties to the cryptocurrency industry, has claimed he wanted the U.S. to become the “crypto capital of the planet.” His election victory sent bitcoin to several new record highs, eclipsing $100,000 within a month of Election Day. Roughly $1.8 trillion was added to the global crypto market’s aggregate market value in 2024, including $1 trillion since Election Day, according to CoinGecko.
What Crypto Policies Has Trump Proposed?
Trump has said he would use his executive powers to reduce regulatory burdens facing crypto firms, including the formation of a new crypto advisory council. The president-elect has reportedly planned to unveil an executive order declaring cryptocurrency a policy priority while advising government agencies to work with the industry. That order would also establish a bitcoin reserve, allowing the federal government to buy and sell the crypto. News of Trump’s plans for the crypto industry sent the price of bitcoin over $105,000 on Friday, the coin’s highest price in nearly a month.
Tangent
Trump’s meme coin is his latest merchandise push in recent years, adding to a line of perfumes and colognes and “Trump Watches” celebrating his election win. He launched a series of “Trump Watches” valued up to $100,000 in September, following the debut of $100 silver coins and 1,000 pairs of limited edition sneakers, $60 Trump-branded bibles and NFT cards. Most of the revenue Trump has received from his merchandise came from his NFTs, which reportedly earned him about $7.2 million in licensing fees. Trump’s latest line of signed and unsigned guitars sold out at $11,500 and $1,500 each, respectively, generating a combined $4.6 million in sales.
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>>> Trump promotes meme coin, raising ethics issues as value soars
The Washington Post
by Tony Romm
1-19-25
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/trump-promotes-meme-coin-raising-ethics-issues-as-value-soars/ar-AA1xtHO8?cvid=ac5ccc526e85490ec27341770881673c&ei=34
Ahead of his inauguration, President-elect Donald Trump launched and promoted a new cryptocurrency venture, raising fresh ethical questions about his attempts to monetize the incoming administration’s deepening political ties to the industry.
Throughout the weekend, the project soared in value as Trump and his aides prepared to reenter the White House. As soon as Monday, Trump is expected to issue new policy directives that could loosen crypto regulation and send the price of bitcoin and other assets skyrocketing.
Trump’s new project is known as a meme coin, a highly volatile sort of token that crypto enthusiasts can buy and sell tied to an online trend or personality. In this case, it’s an image of Trump pumping his fist inspired by the assassination attempt in July. Dubbed $TRUMP, the incoming president fashioned the new offering as a way for his supporters to “celebrate everything we stand for.”
On paper, it may have generated potentially billions of dollars in wealth for the Trump business, just hours before he is set to begin a term in which he has promised to turn the United States into the “crypto capital of the planet,” as he told industry supporters at a major conference last year.
Buyers are receiving what essentially amounts to a digital playing card, the purchase of which is supposed to symbolize a show of support, not an investment opportunity or political donation, according to lengthy disclosures posted online.
But a digital firm affiliated with the Trump organization owns 80 percent of the supply, the project disclosed, and appears to collect a fee on sales. Trump has also promoted the project to his roughly 97 million followers on the social media site X, and on Sunday, he steered followers to a similar meme coin tied to incoming first lady Melania Trump.
By Sunday evening, the total value of the $TRUMP project had reached more than $67 billion, according to CoinMarketCap, which tracks crypto prices and computed the figure by estimating the total market capitalization if every coin were in circulation.
Two of the president-elect’s sons, Eric and Donald Jr., described the project this weekend as the “hottest digital meme on earth,” and they promised the Trump family’s separate crypto project — a new token and platform called World Liberty Financial — would be the “future of finance.”
Jordan Libowitz, a senior vice president at the Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington who studies crypto, said the coin reflected the extent to which Trump could seize on “every government lever in his reach to make money for himself.”
Norman Eisen, a former White House ethics adviser during the Obama administration, said that, out of all of Trump’s conflicts as a businessman turned president, this “may be the most profound.”
“He’s launching a major, new multibillion-dollar venture in the burgeoning crypto industry, where he has the most profound conflict of interest between [what] he’s seeking to gain and his duties to regulate that industry — which now includes himself,” Eisen said. “This may represent the single worst conflict of interest in the modern history of the presidency.”
Eisen also noted that foreign governments could buy into the meme coin, raising its value and enriching Trump’s wealth, thereby violating the foreign emoluments clause of the Constitution.
“Cryptocurrency should thrive but should also be appropriately regulated, and when it is not, [it] could be abused as a conduit for money laundering, tax evasion and terrorist financing,” Eisen warned.
A spokesman for the Trump transition did not immediately respond to a request for comment. A spokeswoman for the Trump Organization also did not immediately respond.
The venture underscored Trump’s sharp turn from crypto skeptic to supporter as he looks to court the industry’s generous political donations and continued favor entering his second stint in the White House.
Years after decrying crypto as a “scam,” Trump has tried to fashion himself as the first crypto president, and he has turned to aides who boast deep ties to the highly volatile industry.
Those advisers include David Sacks, a Silicon Valley venture capitalist set to guide Trump on crypto policy in the White House, and Paul Atkins, a former consultant to crypto companies whom the president has nominated to lead the Securities and Exchange Commission, a powerful financial watchdog. Some of Trump’s advisers during the transition process, meanwhile, are closely tied to Marc Andreessen and his venture firm, which has extensive investments in crypto.
Andreessen and other crypto magnates — including Tyler and Cameron Winklevoss, the founders of the trading platform Gemini — donated generously to Trump and affiliated groups during the 2024 campaign as they looked to arrest years of withering scrutiny under outgoing President Joe Biden.
But the fruits of their labor could become apparent soon after Trump enters office: He is expected to create a new council — consisting in part of crypto executives — to guide his administration, according to two people familiar with the matter who spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe his plans.
Trump has also explored executive orders that would streamline federal crypto regulation, such as by tasking agencies to study and remove legal barriers to the industry or clarifying the exact oversight roles of two federal financial regulators, the SEC and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, the people said. And the president’s team has spoken with lawmakers and experts about his controversial idea to maintain a federal stockpile of bitcoin, The Washington Post previously reported.
Trump and his family have lent their names and support to World Liberty Financial, which aims to offer crypto lending, though they do not appear to be officers at the company.
But the projects have only resurfaced familiar questions about Trump’s commingling of government and business, and the extent to which political actors might seek to curry favor by investing in his growing real estate and tech enterprises. The stakes became apparent only weeks after the election, when Chinese cryptocurrency entrepreneur Justin Sun purchased $30 million in tokens from World Liberty Financial. Sun is under investigation by the SEC.
The president-elect has also sold NFTs — non-fungible tokens — featuring amateurish images of him playing golf, posing as an astronaut or surrounded by bars of gold.
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>>> Powell says Fed cannot hold bitcoin, not seeking to change that
Reuters
by Michael S. Derby and Ann Saphir
December 19, 2024
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/fed-cant-hold-bitcoin-not-211628096.html
NEW YORK (Reuters) -Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said on Wednesday the U.S. central bank has no desire to be involved in any government effort to stockpile large amounts of bitcoin.
"We're not allowed to own bitcoin," Powell said at a press conference following the Fed's latest two-day policy meeting, in which policymakers cut rates as expected while signaling a less certain path for monetary policy in the months ahead.
In terms of the legal issues around holding bitcoin, "that's the kind of thing for Congress to consider, but we are not looking for a law change at the Fed," Powell said.
The Fed chief was addressing the prospect of central bank involvement in the idea of the government building a so-called Strategic Bitcoin Reserve once President-elect Donald Trump takes office.
Powell's comments on Wednesday dented the value of bitcoin, which has rallied sharply along with other crypto assets since Trump's victory in the Nov. 5 election on the prospect of a more hands-off government approach to a class of assets that rarely functions as actual money, but is instead largely used as a vehicle for speculation.
Trump has suggested he will create a U.S. bitcoin strategic reserve - a concept that has also been widely rejected in Europe.
The incoming president has not provided details on what such a reserve would entail, beyond saying its initial holdings could include bitcoin seized from criminals, a stockpile of about 200,000 tokens worth about $21 billion at current prices.
Bitcoin has more than doubled this year to more than $100,000 on optimism over Trump's pro-crypto stance. The asset has proven volatile in its 15 years of existence, which analysts say reduces its utility as a store of value or a unit of exchange, key attributes of a reserve currency.
Republican Senator Cynthia Lummis has introduced a bill to create such a reserve, under which the U.S. Treasury would buy 200,000 bitcoins annually until the stockpile reaches one million tokens. The purchases would be funded by Fed bank deposits and gold holdings.
Funding a strategic bitcoin reserve would likely require the approval of Congress and the issuance of new Treasury debt, according to an analysis published this week by Barclays. Given the likely ways such a reserve could be created, "we suspect such a plan would face stiff resistance from the Fed," Barclays analysts said.
EUROPE AGAINST BITCOIN RESERVES
More broadly, Fed officials have been skeptical of securities such as bitcoin as they have also backed away from their own efforts to create a fully digital dollar in favor of allowing the private sector to innovate payments technologies.
The Fed's main role regarding cryptocurrencies appears to center on how those assets might affect consumer and banking sector safety.
"We regulate and supervise banks and we would want the interaction between the crypto business and the banks ... not to threaten the health and well-being of the banks," Powell said on Dec. 4. But he also noted at that time that when it comes to crypto assets, "we don't regulate it directly."
The European Central Bank’s chief bank supervisor, Claudia Buch, on Tuesday also flagged up risks in the crypto market, including "excessive leverage, intransparency (and) conflict of interest", adding she was keeping a close eye on banks' exposure to that type of assets.
Trump plans to appoint former PayPal executive David Sacks to the newly-created position of White House AI and Crypto Czar, and pro-crypto consultant Paul Atkins to lead the Securities and Exchange Commission.
In Europe, a series of central bankers this week dismissed any suggestion of bitcoin becoming a reserve asset.
Belgium’s central bank governor Pierre Wunsch saw little "appetite for having reserves in bitcoins" in an interview on Wednesday. Outside the euro zone, Hungary’s governor-designate Mihaly Varga said on Monday cryptocurrencies were just too volatile.
"We are following the discussion, especially in the U.S. post-elections, closely," ECB policymaker Olli Rehn said on Tuesday. "But our view has not changed. Cryptos are assets, but they are not currency," the Finnish central bank governor added.
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>>> Bitcoin is 'the right asset' to combat the US deficit: Sen. Lummis
by Madison Mills and Seana Smith
December 19, 2024
https://finance.yahoo.com/video/td-cowen-upgrades-blackberry-buy-225541053.html
With President-elect Donald Trump's return to the White House quickly approaching, investors weigh the prospect of a strategic bitcoin reserve. Senator Cynthia Lummis (R-WY), who introduced the bipartisan Lummis-Gillibrand Responsible Financial Innovation Act focused on regulating crypto, joins Catalysts Co-Hosts Seana Smith and Madison Mills to talk about her stance on the Federal Reserve holding bitcoin.
"I want our federal government to have a strategic bitcoin reserve that can help back the US dollar as the world's reserve currency and then serve as a long-term savings account, thereby offsetting our national debt, which is over $36 trillion now," Lummis tells Yahoo Finance.
The republican senator says, "My proposal would have the US purchase, through other assets that already owns, 200,000 bitcoin a year for five years, for a total of a million, hold it for at least 20 years, and at the numbers that we project, that would accrue a fund that's worth about $16 trillion."
Lummis adds the reason why the federal government has not already pursued bitcoin as a solution to the national deficit is because, as indicated by Fed Chair Jerome Powell at the Fed's December meeting, it doesn't believe the central bank has the legal authority to own bitcoin. "We need to give that to them," she says.
Check out Yahoo Finance's full interview with Senator Lummis here. Also catch Senator Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) discuss crypto regulation and Trump's pick for Paul Atkins to lead the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) with Yahoo Finance.
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>>> Trump nominates crypto-friendly Scott Bessent as Treasury Secretary
The Street
by Sabrina Toppa
November 24, 2024
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/trump-nominates-crypto-friendly-scott-175152629.html
Quick Summary
President-Elect Donald Trump has nominated Scott Bessent, a pro-crypto hedge fund manager, as his Treasury Secretary. Bessent has supported Trump's call for a strategic bitcoin reserve and has been a major donor to his campaign. As Treasury Secretary, Bessent's responsibilities will include tax policy, managing growing debt, and potentially crypto policy. He has also outlined a
On Friday, President-Elect Donald Trump picked pro-crypto hedge fund manager Scott Bessent as his administration’s new Treasury Secretary, pending a Senate confirmation. The 62-year-old has supported Trump’s call for the creation of a strategic bitcoin reserve, as well as his broader overtures to the crypto industry.
"I have been excited about the [Trump’s] embrace of crypto, and I think it fits very well with the Republican Party, Bessent told media this summer. “Crypto is about freedom.. The crypto economy is here to stay, the Democrats are running from it because they are trying to wash off the stench of Sam Bankman-Fried and his family donations to the Democratic party.”
Bessent’s ambit will include tax policy, managing growing debt, and may grow to include crypto policy, market analysts believe.
Bessent has also been a major donor to Trump, extending $1 million to the Republican candidate for his 2016 inauguration. In the past, Trump has labeled Bessent as “one of the most brilliant men on Wall Street.”
In terms of his economic viewpoints, Bessent espouses a "3-3-3" strategy, where he is advising Trump to deploy deregulation to achieve 3% annual growth to the GDP, trim the budget deficit by making it just 3% of the GDP in the next four years, and increase daily oil production by 3 million barrels a day, according to the New York Times.
Moreover, Bessent has tried to clarify Trump’s controversial economic policies, particularly his proposal to levy protectionist tariffs. While even some Republicans criticized the tariffs for inflating costs and burdening businesses and consumers, Bessent claims that Trump deploys them as strategic leverage to pressure other nations into meeting his demands.
Others in Musk’s camp, like Tesla CEO and billionaire Elon Musk, hoped for a different Treasury Secretary in the form of Howard Lutnick, the CEO of Cantor Fitzgerald.
“Scott has long been a strong advocate of the America First Agenda,” Trump said in his announcement. “We will ensure that no Americans will be left behind in the next and Greatest Economic Boom, and Scott will lead that effort for me, and the Great People of the United States of America.”
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Bitcoin to reach 100 K soon.
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>>> Tesla Quietly Transfers $765 Million In Bitcoin, Putting Musk's Cryptocurrency Strategy Under Intense Scrutiny Amid Market Concerns
Benzinga
by LaToya Scott
October 21, 2024
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/tesla-quietly-transfers-765-million-164536555.html
Elon Musk's ventures into cryptocurrency are raising eyebrows once again. Blockchain analytics firm Arkham Intelligence reported that Tesla recently moved about $765 million worth of Bitcoin to unidentified wallets.
This massive transfer has sparked a flurry of speculation. What's Tesla planning next? Will they sell or is there something else at play? Tesla hasn't commented, leaving experts and crypto-watchers alike in suspense.
According to BitcoinTreasuries, Tesla holds the fourth-largest stash of Bitcoin among U.S. public companies. Only MicroStrategy and crypto mining giants like MARA Holdings and Riot Platforms hold more.
Tesla’s Bitcoin holdings, though substantial, still make up less than 1% of the company’s total $705 billion market cap. This starkly contrasts with other companies where Bitcoin represents a hefty chunk – sometimes over 25% – of their value.
Tesla first made headlines in early 2021 when it invested $1.5 billion in Bitcoin. Musk, never one to shy away from risk, saw the move as a way to diversify Tesla's portfolio and support its interest in accepting crypto car payments.
That news alone sent Bitcoin soaring by over $10,000. But Musk's love affair with Bitcoin didn't last long. By mid-2021, he had hit the brakes, citing concerns over Bitcoin mining's reliance on coal and other fossil fuels, which didn't align with his broader sustainability mission. The about-face sent shock waves through the crypto community, with Bitcoin dropping more than 10% almost overnight.
Still, Musk stood firm, declaring that Tesla wouldn't sell any of its Bitcoin and would resume accepting it for purchases once mining shifted toward renewable energy sources. That didn't last long, either.
By the summer of 2022, Tesla had sold off most of its Bitcoin at about $20,000 per coin, considerably lower than it initially paid. Critics quickly pointed out that the company had sold near the bottom of the market, losing significant potential profit.
Despite the sell-off, Tesla held on to a smaller reserve – fewer than 10,000 Bitcoin – which has appreciated over 350% since the company's initial purchase. Had Tesla not sold its holdings, the Bitcoin stash would be worth more than $3 billion today. According to Forbes, Bitcoin recently hit a high of $73,750, far surpassing the company's original buy price of 43,200 BTC.
Now, the crypto world waits to see what happens next. The timing of this transfer is particularly interesting, as new accounting standards are set to go into effect this December. The Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) has updated its guidelines, requiring digital assets like Bitcoin to be marked at fair value.
Previously, assets could only be marked down in case of depreciation, with no recognition of value increases unless they were sold. These new rules will allow companies to reflect gains and losses in their financial reports, which could shift how firms like Tesla approach their Bitcoin holdings.
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>>> 3 Big Changes That Could Be Coming For Cryptocurrency in 2025
by Dominic Basulto
Motley Fool
October 20, 2024
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/3-big-changes-could-coming-104100682.html
2024 has already been a watershed year for the crypto industry, thanks to the launch of the new spot Bitcoin (CRYPTO: BTC) ETFs in January. For the first time ever, both individual and institutional investors have a quick, easy, and regulator-approved way to get direct exposure to Bitcoin without entering the cryptocurrency market through a crypto-trading brokerage.
But there could be even bigger changes ahead in 2025. Many, of course, will be the result of the 2024 presidential election, which has seen crypto introduced as a political campaign issue for the first time ever. Here are three big changes on the horizon, ranked from most likely to least likely to occur.
More crypto ETFs
The new spot Bitcoin ETFs have surpassed all expectations, bringing in more than $30 billion of investor capital. Yes, there was a brief rough patch in August, when it looked like investor inflows would dry up. But inflows are now back on a bullish pace, and these ETFs are being accepted by everyone from the smallest retail investor to the biggest billionaire hedge fund manager.
Thus, the introduction of more crypto ETFs in 2025 is almost a no-brainer. July saw the launch of new spot Ethereum (CRYPTO: ETH) ETFs, and the current expectation is that a handful of other large market-cap cryptocurrencies could be next. The most likely prospects include Solana and XRP, both of which rank among the top 10 largest cryptocurrencies.
A change in how crypto is regulated
Currently, the United States lacks a comprehensive regulatory framework for crypto, but that could be changing in 2025. Both Republicans and Democrats agree that such a framework is needed, and political momentum seems to be building for an overhaul next year.
Right now, the system for regulating crypto is unclear and, at times, unfair. This is a point that cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase Global (NASDAQ: COIN) has argued over and over again, as it has been pulled into regulatory battles with the SEC. Keep in mind: The current system for regulating crypto is based on a 1946 Supreme Court case that was originally designed to settle a dispute over Florida citrus groves. It's getting harder and harder to see how these ancient rules apply to modern business issues.
Thus, 2025 could see the introduction of new legislation that clearly spells out how crypto should be regulated, as well as who should be regulating it. Right now, the SEC is the primary regulator, but the current thinking among pro-crypto advocates is that the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) should be in charge. At the very least, look for the replacement of SEC head Gary Gensler in 2025 with someone with a more pro-crypto attitude.
Bitcoin as a national strategic imperative
Bitcoin could become a new strategic imperative for the U.S. government in 2025. Already, there are calls for greater government support for the Bitcoin mining industry, as well as suggestions that the U.S. might be pulled into a Bitcoin "arms race" with the likes of China and Russia.
Some politicians have even suggested that Bitcoin could become part of a solution to the $35 trillion national debt problem. The logic here is very simple: As long as Bitcoin can increase in price faster than the national debt can grow in size, there might be a chance to pay off all this debt one day. Granted, it's going to be tough sledding, given that the U.S. debt is growing by $1 trillion every 100 days. By way of comparison, that's equivalent to the total market cap of Bitcoin right now.
As part of a potential solution, U.S. Senator Cynthia Lummis (R-Wyoming) has already introduced legislation for a strategic Bitcoin reserve that is based on the idea of buying 1 million BTC over a period of several years. Over time, part of that reserve could theoretically be used to pay down debt.
Granted, the chances of any of this happening are directly tied to the electoral success of Donald Trump, who claims to be the first pro-Bitcoin president in history. He has already said that he wants to make America the "crypto capital of the planet." For some people, this might sound terrifying. But for crypto investors, it could be a dream come true.
How to profit from changes to crypto
The big question facing investors in 2025 is how to position a portfolio to take advantage of these potential changes. The simplest solution, of course, is to load up on Bitcoin. Much of the political and regulatory focus seems to be on Bitcoin, which still accounts for more than one-half of the market cap of the entire crypto market. So any change to crypto is going to have an effect, first and foremost, on Bitcoin.
The real-world effect of any new crypto legislation is harder to predict. A clue here might come from other nations attempting to enact new crypto legislation. For example, the European Union's Markets in Crypto-Assets (MiCA) regulation will go into full effect in December. This will establish a comprehensive legal framework for the issuance, investment, and trading of crypto assets across the EU.
For now, keep an eye on the 2024 presidential election. The outcome there could have a huge effect on the crypto market for years to come. If there's a big post-election rally, you can be confident that big changes will be coming for crypto in 2025.
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>>> Trump unveils cryptocurrency plan at Bitcoin2024 Conference
The Hill
by Yash Roy
7-27-24
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/trump-unveils-cryptocurrency-plan-at-bitcoin2024-conference/ar-BB1qKqsi?OCID=ansmsnnews11
Former President Donald Trump unveiled his plan for cryptocurrency while making history as the first major party candidate to address the annual cryptocurrency conference. During his Saturday speech, he also attacked Democrats for trying to “obliterate” cryptocurrencies.
“I am proud to be the first American president to address a Bitcoin event anywhere in the world,” he said during his appearance at Bitcoin2024 Conference in Nashville’s Music City Center. “If crypto is going to define the future, I want it to be mined, minted and made in the USA.”
Trump and a host of Republicans, including entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy and Sens. Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.), Bill Haggerty (R-Tenn.), and Tim Scott (R-S.C.) were also in attendance. Trump has pointed to Ramaswamy as his main cryptocurrency advisor.
During his speech, Trump said that if elected president, he would create a cryptocurrency advisory board to create “transparent” regulation within his first 100 days. He also committed to scrapping the Biden administration’s plan to create a central bank for cryptocurrency.
“Regulation will be written by people who love your industry and not hate it within my first 100 days,” he said.
“I will tell the Treasury Department to cease and desist all steps and necessary moves to shut down the central bank,” he added. “Forget about it.”
The Biden administration has rolled out a series of proposals to regulate cryptocurrency, with the Securities and Exchange Commission moving to regulate cryptocurrency agencies more strongly than ever before.
Trump to speak at Nashville BitCoin conference
Trump also lambasted President Biden and Vice President Harris for moving to regulate cryptocurrency during the last four years, saying they want to “choke” off the industry.
“If they win this election, every one of you will be gone. They will be vicious, ruthless,” he said. “Right now, because of me, they are leaving you alone, so please say thank you, President Trump.”
Crypto firms have criticized the Biden administration for being “overzealous” in enforcing industry regulation. They have also increasingly viewed Biden and Democrats as inhospitable to the industry, leading to senior Biden administration officials meeting with crypto leaders earlier in July to try to improve relations.
“Unfortunately, the majority of Dems continue to enable [SEC Chair Gary] Gensler’s unlawful war on crypto – sabotaging the ability for American innovation to thrive,” Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse wrote in a post on social platform X after that meeting
“It’s no wonder the GOP has announced a pro-crypto stance,” he continued. “Gensler will go down as the Luddite of his time. Words are easy, action is hard but necessary. Choose wisely. Voters are paying attention.”
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3p - web3camp is a new trend token. I don’t know what is behind this project but the white paper seems true prominent.
>>> SEC drops investigation into Ethereum 2.0, in a major victory for the crypto industry
The halting of the SEC investigation boosted market confidence around the world's second-largest cryptocurrency.
The Street
by MARIO NAWFAL
JUN 19, 2024
https://www.thestreet.com/crypto/markets/sec-drops-investigation-into-ethereum-2-0-signaling-a-major-victory-for-the-crypto-industry
In a significant development for the cryptocurrency industry, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has closed its investigation into Ethereum 2.0, a move celebrated as a win for the sector. Scott Melker, host of The Wolf of All Streets podcast and Mario Nawfal, host of Mario Nawfal’s Roundtable, dove into the implications of this decision and what it means for the future of crypto regulation.
Melker highlighted the significance of the SEC's decision. "This is being touted as a huge win for the crypto industry. As they said, ethereum survives the SEC," Melker remarked, emphasizing that the SEC will not bring charges alleging that Ethereum 2.0's sales are securities transactions.
Nawfal pointed out the broader political context, noting recent shifts in the Biden administration's stance on crypto. He mentioned the surprise approval of an ethereum exchange-traded fund (ETF), suggesting that these moves indicate a softer approach towards the industry. "Great news for ethereum, but more importantly, great news for the industry. If this path continues, that pivot continues, then the election's going to be net positive for the industry," Nawfal added.
Melker highlighted the difficulty the SEC now faces in pursuing ethereum as a security after approving its spot ETF, effectively classifying it as a commodity. This marks the first time a Wells Notice issued to a crypto entity has been withdrawn, possibly signaling a more lenient regulatory environment as this year's election approaches.
Reading from the SEC’s letter, Nawfal noted, "The commission is instructing its staff that in cases where such action appears appropriate, they may advise the person under inquiry that a small investigation has been terminated." This official stance underscores the significant shift in the regulatory landscape.
While the decision is positive news for ethereum and other altcoins, questions remain about the future regulatory treatment of ethereum competitors like Solana, Matic, and Cardano, which have been passively named in ongoing lawsuits against major exchanges.
The crypto market has responded positively, with ethereum and other cryptocurrencies experiencing a modest rally. However, the long-term impact will depend on how the SEC proceeds with its regulatory actions against other crypto assets. As Melker concluded, "The best-case scenario is that we get no clarity on anything for the next six months and just don't get more attacks on the industry."
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>>> SEC ends crypto drama by giving the green light to 11 bitcoin ETFs
Yahoo Finance
by David Hollerith and Jennifer Schonberger
January 10, 2024
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/sec-ends-crypto-drama-by-giving-the-green-light-to-11-bitcoin-etfs-165408349.html
The moment the crypto world wanted finally happened Wednesday. And this time it was for real.
Regulators on Wednesday gave money managers the green light to launch 11 spot bitcoin exchange-traded funds, allowing everyday investors to get exposure to the world’s largest cryptocurrency without having to own it.
The ETFs, which begin trading Thursday, could make bitcoin a potential staple in 401(k)s, IRAs, and pension plans and give it mainstream acceptance.
The Securities and Exchange Commission made the announcement roughly 24 hours after a fake social media post claimed those approvals had already been granted.
The chaos triggered by that unauthorized post on X reverberated from Wall Street to Washington while attracting new scrutiny to the SEC, a longtime foe of the industry that is still in the middle of a widespread crackdown on some of crypto’s major players.
The price of bitcoin seesawed Tuesday and Wednesday as investors tried to make sense of the mishap, which erased tens of billions in market value in just minutes.
SEC Chair Gary Gensler made it clear in a statement Wednesday that his agency "did not approve or endorse bitcoin" when it signed off on the new products and called Wednesday's announcement "the most sustainable path forward" following a key court defeat on this issue last summer.
"Investors should remain cautious about the myriad risks associated with bitcoin and products whose value is tied to crypto," he said in his statement.
One SEC commissioner, Caroline Crenshaw, published a dissenting opinion that called the agency's actions "unsound and ahistorical."
"I am concerned that these products will flood the markets and land squarely in the retirement accounts of US households who can least afford to lose their savings to the fraud and manipulation that appears prevalent in the spot bitcoin markets," she said in her statement.
The SEC has rejected such applications in the past, arguing the products were vulnerable to market manipulation.
The list of applicants approved by the SEC Wednesday included some of the biggest names on Wall Street, from BlackRock (BLK) to Franklin Templeton (BEN), as well as a number of firms better known in the crypto world.
These issuers competed with one another in the run-up to their launches to offer the lowest fees, hoping to attract as many investors as possible once ETFs begin trading.
Other big Wall Street players plan to be part of the action, as well. JPMorgan Chase (JPM) and Goldman Sachs (GS) are among the giant banks that have offered to help some of these money managers create and redeem shares of their new funds.
Optimism about these approvals helped bitcoin surge 164% in 2023 and start 2024 by rising above $47,000, its highest level in nearly two years.
A decade in the making
The crypto industry has been waiting more than a decade for this moment.
The first application to create a spot bitcoin ETF came in 2013 from crypto entrepreneurs and twins Tyler and Cameron Winklevoss, famous for their early role in the creation of Facebook.
Since then, the SEC has denied more than 30 similar applications.
A key turnaround moment came last year in June when the world’s biggest money manager, BlackRock, filed for a spot bitcoin ETF. The interest from one of Wall Street’s biggest names sparked other asset managers to follow suit.
Another important development came last August when one of the ETF applicants, Grayscale Investments, won a key legal victory over the SEC. Grayscale had sued the SEC in 2022 after it wasn't allowed to convert its Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (GBTC) into a spot bitcoin offering.
Its core argument was that the agency had already approved exchange-traded products that held bitcoin futures contracts and thus had "acted arbitrarily and capriciously."
A three-judge panel of the District of Columbia Court of Appeals in Washington sided with Grayscale, saying the firm had "advanced substantial evidence" its product was similar to bitcoin futures ETFs previously approved by the SEC.
That forced the SEC to reconsider Grayscale’s spot bitcoin ETF application, along with others filed by rival money managers.
"We are now faced with a new set of filings similar to those we have disapproved in the past," Gensler said in his statement Wednesday. "Circumstances, however, have changed."
One of the applicants, Ark Investment Management CEO Cathie Wood, told Yahoo Finance that the dominant providers of spot bitcoin ETFs will be those that take in the most money from investors right out of the gate.
The winners "will be a few and it will be the most liquid," she said.
Historically, launches for other bitcoin products have sent bitcoin’s price on a wild ride.
It happened in 2017 with the launch of the country’s first bitcoin futures contracts and then in 2021 with the SEC’s approval of the first bitcoin futures ETFs. Prices soared and then fell by large amounts in the year following the launches.
In recent weeks, much debate has raged over whether bitcoin will rise or fall once the lauded moment of approval comes to pass.
Gautam Chhugani, managing director of the research arm for Bernstein, said his team estimates such financial products will garner $10 billion or more in investment flows through the end of 2024 and "hundreds of billions of dollars" over a two-year period.
That, he added, will help push bitcoin’s price even higher.
"We do think that bitcoin goes to $150,000 by 2025," Chhugani added.
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Does anyone know anything for the $3P token?
For the moment has a low price and seems to be very optimistic.
Your answer comes out of chat gpt ?
Unveiling the Current Trends Shaping the Crypto Industry in 2023
As we traverse through the dynamic landscape of 2023, the cryptocurrency industry continues to evolve, presenting investors with a plethora of transformative trends. Let's delve into the current market dynamics and the trends shaping the crypto sphere.
Metaverse Mania: The concept of the metaverse has gained substantial traction, with various projects and platforms aiming to create immersive digital universes. The integration of blockchain technology, NFTs, and virtual reality has spurred interest, with companies exploring ways to capitalize on this burgeoning trend.
NFT Expansion: Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs) remain at the forefront, extending beyond art and collectibles. The NFT ecosystem is diversifying into gaming, entertainment, real estate, and even virtual identities, amplifying its utility and broadening its appeal.
Institutional Adoption: Institutional interest in cryptocurrencies continues to surge. Major financial institutions, hedge funds, and corporations are increasingly investing in digital assets. This influx of institutional capital is driving market maturity and stability.
Regulatory Developments: Regulatory clarity remains a focal point. Governments worldwide are exploring crypto regulations to ensure investor protection while fostering innovation. Clarity in regulations is crucial for market growth and institutional participation.
DeFi Evolution: Decentralized Finance (DeFi) has evolved significantly. From lending and borrowing to decentralized exchanges and yield farming, the DeFi landscape is diversifying, attracting both users and capital.
Sustainable Solutions: Environmental concerns around crypto mining have catalyzed a shift towards eco-friendly solutions. The industry is exploring alternatives like Proof-of-Stake (PoS) and eco-conscious mining practices to address sustainability issues.
Layer 2 Solutions: Scalability remains a challenge for blockchain networks. Layer 2 solutions, including sidechains and rollups, are gaining prominence, offering potential solutions to enhance transaction throughput and reduce fees.
Stablecoins Ascendancy: Stablecoins continue to play a pivotal role, offering stability amidst market volatility. Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDCs) are also gaining momentum, exploring digitization in the form of national currencies.
Blockchain Interoperability: Projects focusing on interoperability solutions aim to bridge the gap between different blockchains, enabling seamless communication and asset transfer across multiple networks.
Tokenization of Assets: Traditional assets are increasingly being tokenized, from real estate to fine art. This trend democratizes access to assets, unlocking liquidity and fractional ownership opportunities.
Navigating the crypto landscape amidst these trends requires a keen understanding of market dynamics, technological advancements, and regulatory shifts. As the industry continues to mature, these trends will undoubtedly shape the future trajectory of cryptocurrencies and blockchain technology.
Investors must stay vigilant, conducting thorough research, diversifying portfolios, and staying attuned to emerging trends to capitalize on the ever-evolving opportunities within the crypto space.
Amid the ongoing surge in interest for Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs), a notable development emerged as a renowned entertainment conglomerate announced its foray into the NFT market. The entertainment giant unveiled plans to launch an expansive metaverse platform coupled with an innovative approach to NFTs, aiming to redefine the intersection of entertainment, digital ownership, and virtual experiences.
The conglomerate's move involved the creation of a multifaceted metaverse platform designed to offer immersive experiences, blending entertainment content with blockchain-based NFT technology. This initiative aimed to create an interconnected digital universe where users could engage, interact, and participate in diverse activities, ranging from gaming, art, music, to social interactions within a virtual environment.
Central to this initiative was the integration of NFTs, offering users unique digital assets and collectibles tied to the entertainment conglomerate's iconic franchises, characters, and exclusive content. These NFTs were set to represent ownership and access rights to limited-edition digital merchandise, art, and experiences within the metaverse, catering to a broad audience of fans and collectors.
Moreover, the conglomerate emphasized its commitment to fostering a vibrant creator community within the metaverse, allowing artists, developers, and content creators to contribute, monetize their creations through NFTs, and engage with a global audience. The platform aimed to provide a decentralized ecosystem enabling creators to showcase their talent and benefit from the burgeoning NFT market.
The announcement generated considerable buzz within the entertainment and cryptocurrency communities, sparking discussions about the potential impact of a mainstream entertainment giant embracing NFTs and the metaverse. It fueled anticipation among enthusiasts, collectors, and investors eager to explore new possibilities in digital ownership and immersive experiences within this novel entertainment ecosystem.
This strategic move by the entertainment conglomerate not only signaled a significant shift towards digital innovation but also highlighted the growing convergence of traditional entertainment industries with blockchain technology. It underscored the transformative potential of NFTs and the metaverse in revolutionizing content consumption, fan engagement, and digital asset ownership in the entertainment landscape.
Overall, the conglomerate's entry into the NFT space and the metaverse marked a pivotal moment, setting the stage for a new era of entertainment, digital collectibles, and interactive experiences, paving the way for widespread adoption and exploration of the metaverse's limitless possibilities.
In November 2023, the world of cryptocurrencies was stirred by the groundbreaking announcement of the collaboration between a leading tech conglomerate and a government initiative to develop a pioneering Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC). The partnership aimed to revolutionize the financial landscape, marking a significant milestone in the global adoption of digital currencies.
The tech giant, in collaboration with the government, embarked on a bold initiative to develop a CBDC leveraging cutting-edge blockchain technology. This digital currency aimed to offer secure, efficient, and transparent transactions, backed by the authority and stability of a central bank. The project sought to redefine traditional financial systems, offering a glimpse into the future of monetary transactions and governance.
The CBDC initiative attracted attention globally for its potential to reshape the way financial transactions are conducted. It promised to address concerns related to financial inclusion, security, and transparency while offering a seamless and user-friendly experience for individuals and businesses alike.
This move also signified the increasing acceptance and endorsement of cryptocurrencies by governments and regulatory bodies. It highlighted the growing interest of traditional institutions in embracing digital currencies and exploring their potential to modernize financial infrastructure.
Moreover, the project's emphasis on utilizing blockchain technology reflected a commitment to advancing decentralized and secure financial systems. It underscored the significance of technological innovation in shaping the future of finance, providing a blueprint for other countries and institutions to follow suit.
The announcement sparked discussions within the crypto community, with analysts and enthusiasts eagerly anticipating the potential implications and adoption of this new CBDC. It triggered optimism and curiosity about the evolution of digital currencies and their integration into mainstream financial ecosystems.
Overall, the groundbreaking collaboration between the tech giant and the government initiative to develop a CBDC marked a pivotal moment in the cryptocurrency sphere. It showcased the convergence of technology and finance, hinting at a future where digital currencies could play a central role in shaping global economies and financial systems.
Congratulations on the upcoming launch of ARAT 1.09's decentralized platform! The dedication and nine years of work invested in its development undoubtedly promise something groundbreaking for the world of decentralized platforms.
The recent acquisition and the addition of Lars Schlichting to the team at ARAT 1.09 seem like strategic moves to further fortify and expand the company's capabilities. Lars Schlichting's expertise in regulatory compliance, coupled with Cilandro SA's position as a financial intermediary, certainly brings a valuable asset to the table.
ARAX Holdings Corp.'s vision to invest in world-leading decentralized infrastructure software and technology, focusing on regulatory compliance through their RegTech initiatives, is commendable. The integration of technologies like artificial intelligence, blockchain, smart contracts, and CorePass, the decentralized compliant blockchain-based digital identity, reflects a robust strategy to streamline compliance processes in the digital economy.
The comprehensive framework outlined by ARAX, encompassing various dimensions of regulation, compliance, risk management, reporting, and supervision, holds the potential to revolutionize how compliance is managed in the digital landscape. The emphasis on efficiency, accuracy, transparency, and reduced compliance costs is promising for stakeholders involved.
It's inspiring to witness ARAX's proactive approach in leveraging advanced technologies and data-driven solutions to address the challenges and complexities of regulatory compliance. Such efforts not only enhance effectiveness but also pave the way for a more transparent and efficient digital ecosystem.
Looking forward to witnessing the impact of ARAT 1.09's decentralized platform and the innovative strides taken by ARAX in shaping the future of regulatory compliance in the digital economy.
The comparison between Kaspa and Bitcoin is an intriguing topic in the realm of cryptocurrencies. While Bitcoin remains the pioneering and most well-known cryptocurrency, discussions about newer digital currencies like Kaspa often arise in the context of potential alternatives or successors.
It's important to note that Bitcoin and Kaspa are fundamentally different cryptocurrencies in terms of their underlying technologies, functionalities, and goals. Bitcoin introduced the world to blockchain technology and remains the dominant force in the cryptocurrency market, valued for its decentralized nature, limited supply, and first-mover advantage.
Kaspa, on the other hand, operates on a different protocol and aims to address certain limitations seen in other blockchain networks, particularly related to scalability and throughput. Its unique features, such as the utilization of the GhostDAG protocol, intend to improve the scalability and performance of blockchain networks.
While some may advocate for Kaspa as a potential competitor or improvement upon Bitcoin due to its scalability solutions, it's essential to approach such claims with careful consideration and analysis. The cryptocurrency landscape is dynamic and constantly evolving, with new projects and technologies emerging regularly.
Determining whether Kaspa could potentially challenge Bitcoin's dominance or become a new standard in the cryptocurrency world requires thorough research, understanding of the technology, market trends, adoption rates, and various other factors that contribute to the success and value of a digital asset.
Who believes that kaspa is the new Bitcoin ?
>>> Investing in Cryptocurrency ETF
An in-depth look at the leading cryptocurrency ETFs in the U.S stock market this year. Here's what you need to know.
Motley Fool
By Lyle Daly
Nov 8, 2023
https://www.fool.com/investing/stock-market/market-sectors/financials/cryptocurrency-stocks/cryptocurrency-etf/
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>>> Riot Platforms, Inc.(RIOT), together with its subsidiaries, operates as a bitcoin mining company in North America. It operates through Bitcoin Mining, Data Center Hosting, and Engineering segments. The company also provides co-location services for institutional-scale bitcoin mining companies; and critical infrastructure and workforce for institutional-scale miners to deploy and operate their miners. In addition, it engages in the design and manufacturing of power distribution equipment and custom engineered electrical products; electricity distribution product design, manufacture, and installation services primarily focused on large-scale commercial and governmental customers, as well as a range of markets, including data center, power generation, utility, water, industrial, and alternative energy; operation of data centers; and maintenance/management of computing capacity. The company was formerly known as Riot Blockchain, Inc. Riot Platforms, Inc. was incorporated in 1998 and is based in Castle Rock, Colorado.
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>>> 6 Best Bitcoin ETFs Of July 2023
Forbes Advisor
by Michael Adams
https://www.forbes.com/advisor/investing/cryptocurrency/best-bitcoin-etfs/
ProShares Bitcoin Strategy ETF (BITO) $889 million
ProShares Short Bitcoin ETF (BITI) $100 million
VanEck Bitcoin Strategy ETF (XBTF) $39 million
Valkyrie Bitcoin Strategy ETF (BTF) $27 million
Simplify Bitcoin Strategy PLUS Inc ETF (MAXI) $21 million
Global X Blockchain & Bitcoin Strategy ETF (BITS) $11 million
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Spot bitcoin ETF - >>> BlackRock CEO Larry Fink Talks Up Crypto Demand From Gold Investors
CoinDesk
by Jamie Crawley
July 14, 2023
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/blackrock-ceo-larry-fink-talks-151613849.html
Larry Fink was in a bullish mood on Friday as he spoke of the increasing demand he is seeing for cryptocurrencies among gold investors.
Appearing on CNBC following his company's second-quarter earnings report, the CEO of $8.5 trillion asset manager BlackRock (BLK) said "more and more" gold investors have been asking about the role of crypto over the last five years, highlighting the role exchange-traded funds (ETFs) have had in democratizing access to gold, as they could do in crypto.
"If you look at the value of our dollar, how it depreciated in the last two months and how much it appreciated over the last five years ... an international crypto product can really transcend that," he said. "That's why we believe there's great opportunities and that's why we're seeing more and more interest. And the interest is broad-based [and] worldwide."
BlackRock filed an application to list a spot bitcoin ETF last month with a surveillance-sharing agreement worked in, which could prove to be the deciding factor in the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) finally approving such a product after rejecting dozens of applications in recent years.
"As with any new markets, if BlackRock's name's going to be on it, we're going to make sure it's safe and sound and protected," Fink added.
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Rickards - >>> “Biden Bucks” and the War on Crypto
BY JAMES RICKARDS
JUNE 13, 2023
https://dailyreckoning.com/biden-bucks-and-the-war-on-crypto/
“Biden Bucks” and the War on Crypto
I’ve written a lot about central bank digital currencies (CBDCs) including the U.S. dollar version that I call “Biden Bucks.” The threat from CBDCs is enormous.
They are digital (but not true cryptocurrencies), which means they are programmable. The Treasury and Fed can use the CBDC ledger to track your purchases, look at your political contributions, look at your religious affiliations and basically profile you as an enemy of the state or “ultra MAGA.”
Your “Biden Bucks” could be made to stop working at the gas pump once you’ve purchased a certain amount of gasoline in a week. How’s that for control?
And in a world of “Biden Bucks,” the government will even know your physical whereabouts at the point of purchase.
But it gets even worse…
CBCD + AI = Nightmare
This profiling can be combined with artificial intelligence (AI) and generative pretrained transformer platforms (GPT) to practically read your mind.
From there, the government can freeze your bank accounts, impose taxes and penalties and put you on a “use it or lose it” fiscal policy stimulus plan that forces you to spend your money within 30 days or have it partially confiscated.
If any of this sounds extreme, fantastical or otherwise far-fetched, it’s not. It’s already happening around the world.
China is already using its CBDC to deny travel and educational opportunities to political dissidents. Canada seized the bank accounts and crypto accounts of nonviolent trucker protesters last winter.
These kinds of “social credit” systems and political suppression will be even easier to conduct when “Biden Bucks” are completely rolled out in the U.S.
The Associated Press actually tried to fact-check me, saying that my claims are false, that the digital dollar has nothing to do with social control. The whole project is completely innocent and you can trust the government.
But even the general manager of the Bank for International Settlements, which is known as the “central bank of central banks,” has admitted that CBDCs would give central banks “absolute control” of everyone’s money — and the “technology to enforce that.”
Even The Economist has announced the rise of government-backed digital currencies, warning they will “shift power from individuals to the state.”
Let’s just say The Economist isn’t known for engaging in conspiracy theories.
No Competition Allowed
And this is central to the CBDC plan: As the CBDC dollar is being implemented, it’s important for the government to take away your alternatives. The three main alternatives are physical cash, gold and cryptocurrencies.
Cash is under attack through multiple channels including “no cash accepted” signs at public events, anti-money laundering rules and simple inflation that might allow you to hold cash, but it won’t be worth very much.
(In 1969, the U.S. abolished the $500 bill, leaving the $100 bill as the highest denomination. The $100 bill of 1969 is only worth $12 in today’s purchasing power because of inflation. Give it time and it won’t be worth much more than a $5 bill.)
And cryptocurrencies are also under full-scale attack. The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has sued Binance, the world’s biggest cryptocurrency exchange, and its founder Changpeng Zhao, alleging they operated a “web of deception.”
Among the 13 other counts in the lawsuit are allegations that Binance inflated trading volumes, mishandled customer funds and misled investors about market-surveillance controls. Just one day later, the SEC also sued the Coinbase crypto exchange for failure to register as an exchange under U.S. law.
During the wave of bank failures in early March, the FDIC closed Signature Bank, which operated a cryptocurrency portal called Signet in addition to normal banking activities. That came days after the failure of Silvergate Bank, which also bridged the normal banking world to the world of crypto.
None of this is random.
Governments Never Wanted to Kill the Blockchain — Just to Control It
The U.S. has opened a full-scale war on crypto. Silvergate, Signature, Binance and Coinbase are just the first victims. They won’t be the last. Crypto has to go if CBDCs are going to be fully implemented.
Many advocates of Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies have shared a naïve belief that their digital assets are “beyond the reach of governments,” “cannot be traced” and “cannot be frozen or seized.”
They’ve learned otherwise. Blockchain does not exist in the ether (despite the name of one cryptocurrency) and it does not reside on Mars. Blockchain depends on critical infrastructure including servers, telecommunications networks, the banking system and the power grid, all of which are subject to government control.
As I’ve argued for years, governments don’t want to kill the blockchain upon which cryptos are based. They want to control it.
The fact is governments enjoy a monopoly on money creation and they’re not about to surrender that monopoly to cryptocurrencies.
But governments know they cannot stop the technology platforms on which the cryptocurrencies are based. Blockchain technology has come too far to turn back. That’s why they’re co-opting it.
What Happens if CBDCS Get Hacked?
Here’s one issue with Biden Bucks that hasn’t been adequately addressed: How can you trust them to keep your money secure once you are forced to convert it to a traceable digital currency?
Hackers routinely target crypto architecture and steal money. What happens if that digital currency gets hacked?
This is from a 2022 Federal Reserve paper:
Threats to existing payment services — including operational disruptions and cybersecurity risks — would apply to a CBDC as well. Any dedicated infrastructure for a CBDC would need to be extremely resilient to such threats, and the operators of the CBDC infrastructure would need to remain vigilant as bad actors employ ever more sophisticated methods and tactics. Designing appropriate defenses for CBDC could be particularly difficult because a CBDC network could potentially have more entry points than existing payment services.
This part is truly terrifying. To repeat:
Designing appropriate defenses for CBDC could be particularly difficult because a CBDC network could potentially have more entry points than existing payment services.
If bad actors can already hack crypto platforms with ease, what’s to stop them from hacking a CBDC network with more entry points?
You might not be able to fight back easily in the world of “Biden Bucks,” but there is one nondigital, nonhackable, nontraceable form of money you can still get your hands on.
It’s called gold. Get some before it’s too late.
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ARAT 1.09 is launching their decentralized platform this week! They have worked on it for 9 years. It will be the most advanced platform the world has ever seen!
The acquisition this week gave them another advantage!!! Read this below
Lars Schlichting is a key asset
ARAX is advancing its strategy to invest in world-leading decentralized Infrastructure software and tech, acquiring established, mission-critical platforms.
USA, May 11, 2023/EINPresswire.com/?—?With this acquisition, ARAX is advancing its strategy to invest in world-leading decentralized Infrastructure software and technology, acquiring established, mission-critical platforms.
Cilandro SA is registered with So-Fit, a Self-Regulated Swiss Body which supervises transacting processes for combating money laundering and any form of terrorist funding. Through its Registration at So-Fit, Cilandro can act as a financial intermediary and execute transactions on behalf of third parties, including exchanging digital assets with other digital assets. Cilandro will be one of the licensing bodies of Ping Exchange, which will release its alpha version digital asset trading platform in the coming weeks
The acquisition of Cilandro SA perfectly aligns with our strategic vision of investing in world-leading decentralized Infrastructure software and technology, stated Michael Loubser, CEO of ARAX Holdings Corp.
He further added,
The acquired expertise of Lars Schlichting in regulatory compliance, residing in Cilandro and its trusted position as a financial intermediary makes it an ideal addition to our portfolio. We are excited about the potential synergies this acquisition brings and the value it will deliver to our clients and stakeholders.
In today’s fast-paced digital economy, regulatory compliance requirements undergo continuous changes driven by the dynamic nature of the digital landscape. This evolution is one of the key drivers of ARAX’s investment called RegTech in the regulatory technology industry, which aims to streamline compliance processes and make it available to third parties as well as deploy it within ARAX’s use case platforms.
As technology-enabled innovation continues to advance, there is a growing need for effective management platforms that can navigate the complex world of regulation, compliance, risk management, reporting, and supervision. ARAX recognizes this need and is investing in a comprehensive framework that spans multiple dimensions.
The framework begins with a digital identity attribute management platform and encompasses general regulations and technology. ARAX addresses various regulations, not limited to financial, but also data management platforms. This includes the implementation of a data settlement system for self-regulation and third-party integrations. To support these initiatives, ARAX leverages technologies such as artificial intelligence, DLT, blockchain, smart contracts, including programmable regulation, and an API connector platform. These technologies facilitate connections with both blockchain-based and centralized cloud and financial institutional platforms, forming the core of the ARAX RegTech Ecosystem transaction facilitation.
Central to this framework is the role of data. By enabling data ecosystems and promoting data sharing through the CorePass gateway, CorePass is the world’s first real decentralized compliant blockchain-based digital identity with verifiable KYC, AML, etc, where all participants and users in the market can unlock additional value as well as staying in control of their own data specifically in adding digital attributes to the ARAX secure digital attribute management platform.
The framework is integratable with automation and machine-readable regulations, which will empower regulators and compliance officers to extract data directly from the banks’ systems and combine it with information obtained from customers or external sources, an ideal solution for stablecoin or tokens platforms assisting projects to remain compliant within a regulatory environment, a world first blockchain-based software solution in the stablecoin industry.
Such integration will give rise to a multitude of applications for regulated entities, covering compliance, monitoring, risk management, reporting, and operations. Likewise, authorities can leverage RegTech solutions to establish policies, carry out authorization, supervision, as well as ongoing monitoring and control purposes.
The adoption of this multidimensional framework offers various benefits to stakeholders. These include higher efficiency, effectiveness, accuracy, and transparency, as well as reduced compliance costs.
In summary, ARAX is actively working towards streamlining regulatory compliance in the digital economy. By integrating advanced technologies, data-driven approaches, and a comprehensive ecosystem, ARAX aims to enhance efficiency, transparency, and effectiveness while managing the associated risks.
Rickards says that Signature Bank was deliberately taken down because of their crypto portal -
Excerpt -
>>> ...That’s why the FDIC took over Signature Bank on Sunday, March 12, when they shut down Silicon Valley Bank. Signature Bank was no worse off than a lot of other banks. If it had survived until Monday, March 13, it would have been rescued by the Federal Reserve’s Bank Term Funding Program (BTFP) along with the entire U.S. banking system. Why did Signature Bank get whacked under those circumstances?
Signature Bank got whacked because it was offering a portal to the crypto world called Signet. Once the FDIC announced a blanket deposit guarantee and the Fed offered an unlimited ability to swap bonds for cash at par, Signature would have been fine like any other bank.
Yellen just used a panicked weekend to wipe out the Signet portal. As Rahm Emanuel said, never let a crisis go to waste. This is one example of how crypto is getting strangled globally. CBDCs are being set up to replace cryptos as a digital currency....
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https://dailyreckoning.com/another-zombie-bites-the-dust/
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Rickards says that more and bigger crypto related debacles are coming. This will be an ideal opportunity for the Feds to basically regulate private crypto out of existence, in preparation for the coming CBDC paradigm. The Fed finance ghouls control the monetary system, and would never have allowed any competition, so it was very predictable that they would eventually 'deep six' private crypto -
>>> Federal regulators warn banks to beware of ‘significant’ risks surrounding crypto assets
MarketWatch
by Anushree Dave
https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/markets/federal-regulators-warn-banks-to-beware-of-significant-risks-surrounding-crypto-assets/ar-AA15W8kA
A trio of federal regulators issued a warning to banks Tuesday regarding crypto-asset risks.
In a joint statement, the Federal Reserve, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency said “it is important that risks related to the crypto-asset sector that cannot be mitigated or controlled do not migrate to the banking system.”
The document also highlighted a range of risks associated with crypto-assets and crypto-asset sector participants including: fraud and scams, inaccurate or misleading representations and disclosures by crypto-asset companies, and legal uncertainties related to custody practices, redemptions, and ownership rights, among others.
The agencies said that past year was marked by significant volatility and exposure to vulnerabilities in the crypto-asset sector, though it didn’t propose any new policies.
“Given the significant risks highlighted by recent failures of several large crypto-asset companies, the agencies continue to take a careful and cautious approach related to current or proposed crypto-asset-related activities and exposures at each banking organization,” the regulators said. The regulators said they have “significant safety and soundness concerns with business models that are concentrated in crypto-asset-related activities.”
The past year saw the collapse of crypto exchange FTX, which filed for bankruptcy in November. The cryptocurrency market also lost a total of $2 trillion since its peak in November of 2021. Popular nonfungible token art projects also saw significant drops in floor price after initial hype in late 2021 and early 2022. Victims of hacks and scandals lost upwards of $3 billion last year.
While crypto regulation has been a hot topic of discussion for the past couple of years, regulators still haven’t settled on what governing the sector looks like.
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Rickards - >>> It’s a Conspiracy!
BY JAMES RICKARDS
DECEMBER 5, 2022
It’s a Conspiracy!
I work hard to avoid promoting conspiracy theories. They’re too easy to adopt as explanations for all sorts of strange events and are highly implausible in most cases.
They require extreme amounts of intelligence, coordination and competence that, quite frankly, the alleged conspirators simply aren’t capable of.
Usually, stupidity is a perfectly good explanation especially when it comes to politicians and other public officials.
Even when elite coordination is apparent it’s not necessarily a conspiracy at work. It may just be the case that like-minded individuals are pursuing a common goal.
Elites mostly went to a fairly small group of top schools and took similar courses taught by a tight-knit group of academics. They came up through the ranks in the same government agencies and multilateral institutions.
With that much in common, it’s no surprise they think alike and share the same globalist goals. At the same time, some conspiracies are real. It’s naïve to believe otherwise.
The Real Deal
But how do you distinguish between the dime-a-dozen conspiracy theories and the real thing?
Smoking gun evidence helps, but that’s rare. Firsthand experience with the matter under consideration is one of the best approaches. That brings me to this story…
It involves the CIA, the failed crypto exchange FTX, money-laundered campaign contributions to Democrats, the Pakistani bank BCCI (which was a criminal enterprise on stilts that collapsed in 1991) al-Qaida, Jeffery Epstein and the crypto stablecoin Tether.
That’s a lot to unpack.
I handled Citibank’s financial control in Africa in the 1980s and BCCI was a bank we ran into constantly. We knew it was bad news then years before the collapse and made sure we kept as far away from them as possible.
I also converted Citi to Islamic banking in Pakistan around the same time. My Pakistan experience was one reason I was recruited by the CIA to do financial counterterrorism aimed at al-Qaida and others in the 2000s.
That experience deserves a few words…
Project Prophesy
The CIA recruited me as part of Project Prophesy, which was launched as a strategic study under the direction of CIA veteran Randy Tauss, who was also a seasoned options trader.
I was tapped to join the group based in part on my experience with Islamic banking in Pakistan.
That was considered useful in understanding the mindset of potential terrorist traders. I later became one of two project managers reporting to Tauss.
In 2004, I helped build a working prototype of a Project Prophesy machine using artificial intelligence, applied mathematics, news feeds, price feeds, computing and human oversight. We were looking for terrorist insider trading.
We developed Project Prophesy in total secrecy. And much of my work is classified. But I can tell you that on Aug. 7, 2006, Prophesy’s system uncovered warning signs of an impending terrorist attack.
Three days later in London, a plot to blow up 10 U.S. passenger jets was thwarted. Twenty-four Pakistani extremists were arrested.
The Government Ignored My Warnings
Then in 2007, my system spotted an impending crash in the real estate and stock markets.
I presented my findings to Treasury officials. But they ignored my warnings. We all know what happened next.
We were ready at that point to build a more robust version of this for the CIA and sought additional funding.
But the CIA decided not to move forward with the project mainly for political reasons.
They were worried about possible adverse headlines if it were made to appear that the intelligence community was trolling through citizens’ personal trading records.
That was never true; we used open-source price feeds to get initial leads and then operated through the judicial system after that. But the publicity risk was there and the CIA did not want to take a chance.
After 2008, I moved on to other projects, but I never lost sight of the potential predictive power that we had discovered in Project Prophesy.
I learned that the techniques I developed were useful far beyond the realm of counterterrorism. They could be used for any kind of geopolitical threats carried out in capital markets.
Cryptos and Capital Markets
And I’ve been expert on cryptos since 2010 shortly after they were created in 2009. Besides, I’ve followed the Tether story for years and have been able to drill down on FTX in real-time.
In other words, I’ve had enough hands-on experience in third-world bank fraud, intelligence work, cryptocurrencies and other touch points to know this story hangs together and makes a highly credible case.
I’ll leave the story to you rather than repeat all of the details. Here’s the main takeaway: FTX is just the tip of the iceberg.
Tether does not have the liquid dollar assets it claims to support its $80 billion of coins issued. When Tether does collapse the impact will be multiples of the FTX impact and will certainly affect mainstream finance leading to bank and hedge fund failures.
If the Tether collapse is delayed somewhat it will be because the CIA finds it so useful in financing Ukraine (a Democratic money-laundering scheme) and so-called “color revolutions” around the world.
It’s all playing out before our eyes. Meanwhile, the crypto dominos continue to fall, and will continue to fall until they’ve knocked down mainstream finance.
Bye, Bye, BlockFi
The crypto exchange BlockFi has filed for bankruptcy. BlockFi had been on the ropes for some time, and finally suspended redemptions by its customers on Nov. 11 because it lacked available funds to repay those customers.
It had agreed to be acquired by a bigger crypto exchange FTX, but that deal was abandoned after FTX was revealed to be the biggest crypto fraud of all. In the end, BlockFi was illiquid with a crashing valuation and no way to pay customers, so it closed its doors and filed for bankruptcy.
There are a number of important lessons for investors to take from this even if you have no direct involvement with cryptocurrencies…
The first is that the crypto world is densely connected. One exchange will leave its funds on deposit with another exchange and so on in a daisy chain of interlocking deposits.
Of course, if one link in the chain fails, the entire chain fails, and no one is repaid. That’s bad enough, but what has been happening in crypto land is even worse.
House of Cards
The parties who receive deposits from others borrow against those deposits. This introduces leverage so that the amounts involved in a collapse are far greater than the amounts originally received.
Many of the participants in this reckless conduct offered to pay customers interest. How could they offer interest when the actual cryptos are not securities and don’t earn anything themselves?
Don’t ask. A party paying “interest” would receive a yield from another party paying “interest” so that the interest component was also added to the original fraud. Interlocking deposits, borrowings, leverage, interest, derivatives and more were all part of the crypto scam.
In addition, many of the “billion dollar” losses you read about in the crypto world are not actually dollars but losses, loans and deposits in cryptocurrencies that are valued in dollars at highly inflated values of the cryptos (another form of leverage).
What’s left is a house of cards that is now tumbling down. Luna and Three Arrows failed before FTX. BlockFi and others have failed since. Genesis may be the next in line.
This slow-motion sequential collapse is far from over. It’s just a matter of time before the crypto-world collapse leaks into the mainstream financial world of banks, brokers and hedge funds.
All I can say is give it time.
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>>> NY Fed Launches Digital Dollar Pilot Program With Big Banks
Investopedia
By RAHUL NAMBIAMPURATH
November 16, 2022
https://www.investopedia.com/ny-fed-works-on-cbdc-6829573
Nine U.S. financial institutions, including Citibank, Wells Fargo, and Mastercard launched a pilot program working with the Federal Reserve Bank of New York to test the feasibility of a digital dollar based on distributed ledger technology.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
Several U.S. financial institutions are collaborating to test the feasibility of a digital dollar based on distributed ledger technology.
Participants include BNY Mellon, Citi, HSBC, Mastercard, PNC Bank, TD Bank, Truist, U.S. Bank, and Wells Fargo. The New York Innovation Center, part of the New York Fed, is also involved.
The pilot will run for 12 weeks in a test environment and will involve central banks, commercial banks, and regulated non-banks.
Pilot to Use Distributed-Ledger Tech
The project is the most significant step to date in creating a digital dollar to improve financial settlements. The Biden administration has recommended the creation of a digital dollar and the U.S. has recently begun putting resources into the effort. Other countries are also exploring plans to create their own central bank digital currencies (CBDCs).
The proof-of-concept project is a 12-week effort that will test the feasibility of an interoperable digital money platform called the regulated liability network (RLN).
It will use a distributed ledger—like the blockchain technology behind bitcoin. The goal is to improve financial settlements and will involve central banks, commercial banks, and regulated non-banks.
The U.S. dollar will be represented as tokens and settled through simulated central bank reserves on a shared multi-entity distributed ledger. The pilot will be conducted in a test environment and will use a technology provided by SETL and Digital Asset.
The list of participants in the pilot program includes BNY Mellon, Citi, HSBC, Mastercard, PNC Bank, TD Bank, Truist, U.S. Bank, and Wells Fargo. Global payments provider Swift is also participating in the effort, along with the New York Innovation Center (NYIC), part of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York.
China Tests Digital Yuan
Other countries have made headway in digital currency development, most notably China. China has tested its digital yuan in several provinces, and the currency is even available to users on the popular app WeChat.
It recently added four provinces to its list of regions for the CBDC trial.
Nigeria also has launched a digital currency, the eNaira.
Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Governor Godwin Emefiele said it was responsible for more than $9 million in transactions in the past month.
Earlier this month, France, Switzerland, and Singapore jointly conducted a trial for their digital currencies, one of the first of its kind.
These cross-border trials are also an important agenda in CBDC development.
The Bottom Line
With the White House recommending the creation of a digital dollar, a major announcement could come as early as next year. Major economies like India are also considering adopting CBDCs. The efforts so far are mainly cautious pilot programs. At the same time, regulators around the world are looking at the regulation of cryptocurrencies.
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Rickards - >>> Avalanche!
BY JAMES RICKARDS
NOVEMBER 15, 2022
https://dailyreckoning.com/avalanche/
Avalanche!
It’s time today to move on from politics and the midterm elections. This story is potentially bigger…
The collapse of crypto exchange FTX is the biggest economic and financial story in the world today.
Crypto may be arcane to most readers and is not well understood even by those who follow it closely. Still, it would be a mistake to think of this story as a niche development in a niche market.
The FTX collapse has the potential to spin out of control and affect all capital markets in the same manner as the Mexican collapse in 1994, the Russia-LTCM collapse in 1998 and the Lehman Bros. bankruptcy in 2008.
Think that’s an exaggeration? It’s not.
The story is moving so quickly that readers would be well advised to keep up using the free crypto news service called CoinDesk, which I find quite reliable. Anyway, here’s the rundown…
The Big Brain Behind the Fraud
FTX was founded by Sam Bankman-Fried, a 30-year-old MIT graduate working with a relatively small team of fellow MIT grads and developers.
He attracted investment from some of the biggest names in the investment world including Sequoia Partners, the Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan, SoftBank and the Singapore sovereign wealth fund Temasek.
FTX even got some investment from Tom Brady!
Bankman-Fried became one of the richest people in the world, worth over $25 billion. He donated over $40 million to Democrats in the recent midterm elections and raised millions more to support the corrupt oligarchs in Ukraine.
The Ponzi Scheme Takes Shape
FTX had an affiliate trading firm called Alameda. Like most exchanges, FTX held customer funds in separate accounts to protect customers. It now appears that Bankman-Fried’s team looted the customer accounts to support losses in the Alameda trading firm.
Word got out, and a classic run on the bank started. FTX first put up gates to stop withdrawals. Then management quit, the exchange closed and Alameda went into bankruptcy. The entire empire collapsed.
Over $10 billion in customer funds have disappeared. The remaining $1 billion in funds was hacked and stolen in what some believe was an inside job by the members of the FTX team who knew the computer code.
A criminal investigation has started in the Bahamas where FTX was registered. If that were the end of the story, it might just be an interesting (if costly) fiasco that someone will write a book about. It’s not the end of the story.
The Dominoes Start Falling
One by one, exchanges that did business with FTX are reporting losses and shutting down. Huge losses are spreading throughout the crypto industry and are beginning to leak into mainstream firms.
Meanwhile, popular meme and Gen X broker Robinhood is reported to be in difficulty and is seeing its stock price crash.
If there’s one thing we know about a financial collapse, it’s that it’s never contained to the original victims but spreads like a virus to unexpected places. It’s impossible to know how far the FTX contagion will spread. We can say with certainty that it will not be contained to crypto-world.
Why do I say that? It all comes back to the term “contagion.”
FTX: “Financial Patient Zero”
Unfortunately, in 2020, the world learned a painful lesson in biological contagions. A similar dynamic applies in financial panics. It can begin with one bank or broker going bankrupt as the result of a market collapse (a “financial patient zero”).
But the financial distress quickly spreads to banks that did business with the failed entity and then to stockholders and depositors of those other banks and so on until the entire world is in the grip of a financial panic as happened in 2008.
Disease contagion and financial contagion both work the same way. The nonlinear mathematics and system dynamics are identical in the two cases even though the “virus” is financial distress rather than a biological virus.
And unfortunately, each crisis is bigger than the one before and requires more intervention by the central banks.
The reason has to do with the system scale. In complex dynamic systems such as capital markets, risk is an exponential function of system scale. Increasing market scale correlates with exponentially larger market collapses.
More Dangerous Than Ever
Today, systemic risk is more dangerous than ever because the entire system is larger than before. This means that the larger size of the system implies a future global liquidity crisis and market panic far larger than the Panic of 2008.
Too-big-to-fail banks are bigger than ever, have a larger percentage of the total assets of the banking system and have much larger derivatives books.
One of my favorite analogies is what I call the avalanche and the snowflake. It’s a metaphor for the way the science actually works but I should be clear, they’re not just metaphors. The science, the mathematics and the dynamics are actually the same as those that exist in financial markets.
Imagine you’re on a mountainside. You can see a snowpack building up on the ridgeline while it continues snowing. You can tell just by looking at the scene that there’s danger of an avalanche.
You see a snowflake fall from the sky onto the snowpack.
It disturbs a few other snowflakes that lay there. Then the snow starts to spread… then it starts to slide… then it gains momentum until, finally, it comes loose and the whole mountain comes down and buries the village.
Do You Blame the Snowflake or the Snowpack?
Some people refer to these snowflakes as “black swans,” because they are unexpected and come by surprise. But they’re actually not a surprise if you understand the system’s dynamics and can estimate the system scale.
Here’s the question: Whom do you blame? Do you blame the snowflake, or do you blame the unstable pack of snow?
I say the snowflake’s irrelevant. If it wasn’t one snowflake that caused the avalanche, it could have been the one before or the one after or the one tomorrow.
The instability of the system as a whole was a problem. So when I think about the risks in the financial system, I don’t focus on the “snowflake” that will cause problems. The trigger doesn’t really matter.
In the end, it’s not about the snowflakes; it’s about the initial critical-state conditions that allow the possibility of a chain reaction or avalanche. We’ll see if FTX turns out to be the snowflake, regardless.
This is a good time to increase your cash allocation, both to avoid unexpected losses and to go shopping in the wreckage once the full extent of the damage is known. Oh, and don’t forget to stock up on cash and gold.
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>>> NVIDIA Corporation (NVDA) provides graphics, and compute and networking solutions in the United States, Taiwan, China, and internationally. The company's Graphics segment offers GeForce GPUs for gaming and PCs, the GeForce NOW game streaming service and related infrastructure, and solutions for gaming platforms; Quadro/NVIDIA RTX GPUs for enterprise workstation graphics; vGPU software for cloud-based visual and virtual computing; automotive platforms for infotainment systems; and Omniverse software for building 3D designs and virtual worlds. Its Compute & Networking segment provides Data Center platforms and systems for AI, HPC, and accelerated computing; Mellanox networking and interconnect solutions; automotive AI Cockpit, autonomous driving development agreements, and autonomous vehicle solutions; cryptocurrency mining processors; Jetson for robotics and other embedded platforms; and NVIDIA AI Enterprise and other software. The company's products are used in gaming, professional visualization, datacenter, and automotive markets. NVIDIA Corporation sells its products to original equipment manufacturers, original device manufacturers, system builders, add-in board manufacturers, retailers/distributors, independent software vendors, Internet and cloud service providers, automotive manufacturers and tier-1 automotive suppliers, mapping companies, start-ups, and other ecosystem participants. It has a strategic collaboration with Kroger Co. NVIDIA Corporation was incorporated in 1993 and is headquartered in Santa Clara, California.
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>>> Bitcoin falls below $19,000 following Grayscale ETF rejection
Yahoo Finance
David Hollerith
June 30, 2022
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/bitcoin-price-june-30-140257134.html
After fighting to hold $20,000 on Wednesday, buyer support for bitcoin (BTC-USD) collapsed Thursday morning, with bitcoin falling over 5% to trade as low as $18,930.
This latest decline has seen bitcoin lose more than 37% in June — its worst month since since December 2018.
Thursday's drop comes after the SEC sent rejection letters for ETFs proposed by both Grayscale and Bitwise, while continued inflation fears also weigh on sentiment in the broader crypto market.
Like bitcoin, sell-offs continued for other cryptocurrencies Thursday morning. Binance's BNB token (BNB-USD) down 4%, Solana (SOL-USD), down more than 6%, Cardano’s ADA token (ADA-USD), down more than 4%, Chainlink (LINK-USD), down 3%, have all seen losses on the day.
Grayscale ETF rejection and lawsuit
The SEC's rejection of Grayscale's proposed ETF was a key factor dragging down crypto markets early Thursday.
"The next few months for crypto are going to be very telling," Grayscale CEO Michael Sonnenshein told Yahoo Finance Live on Thursday.
As Yahoo Finance previously reported, Grayscale had sought approval from the SEC to convert GBTC into an exchange traded fund (ETF) that holds bitcoin and relies on “authorized participants” to continuously redeem and create shares could close this discount.
On Monday, Grayscale attempted to show regulators an ETF would be operationally viable, announcing Wall Street firms Jane Street and Virtu Finance had agreed to fill the authorized participant role as long as Grayscale received approval from the SEC.
As the SEC showed in its filing on Wednesday, the regulator continues to harbor concerns that “the price of bitcoin is subject to manipulation on unregulated platforms” and the approval could invite additional manipulation.
As of midday Thursday, GBTC was trading hands at around $12.25 per share, a roughly 30% discount to the per-share value of the trust's bitcoin holdings. With ETF conversation, Grayscale had sought to close this gap between the market price and the trust's net asset value.
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BIS / CBDC - >>> Crypto fears now materialising, central bank body BIS says
Reuters
June 21, 2022
By Marc Jones
https://www.reuters.com/business/finance/crypto-fears-now-materialising-central-bank-body-bis-says-2022-06-21/
LONDON, June 21 (Reuters) - Recent implosions in the cryptocurrency markets indicate that long-warned-about dangers of decentralised digital money are now materialising, the Bank for International Settlements has said.
The BIS, the global umbrella body for central banks, sounded the warning in an upcoming annual report, in which it also urged more effort in developing appealing central bank digital currencies.
BIS general manager Agustin Carstens pointed to recent collapses of the TerraUSD and luna 'stablecoins', and a 70% slump in bitcoin, the bellwether for the crypto market, as indicators that a structural problem exists.
Without a government-backed authority that can use reserves funded by taxes, any form of money ultimately lacks credibility."
"I think all these weaknesses that were pointed out before have pretty much materialised," Carstens told Reuters. "You just cannot defy gravity... At some point you really have to face the music".
Analysts estimate that the overall value of the crypto market has slumped more that $2 trillion since November as its troubles have snowballed. read more
Carstens said the meltdown was not expected to cause a systemic crisis in the way that bad loans triggered the global financial crash. But he stressed losses would be sizeable and that the opaque nature of the crypto universe fed uncertainty.
"Based on what we know, it should be quite manageable," Carstens said. "But, there are a lot of things that we don't know."
CENTRAL BANK DIGITAL CURRENCIES (CBDCs)
The BIS is a long-term sceptic of cryptocurrencies and its report laid its vision for the future monetary system - one where central banks utilise the tech benefits of bitcoin and its ilk to create digital versions of their own currencies.
Roughly 90% of monetary authorities are now exploring CBDCs as they are known. Many hope it will equip them for the online world and fend off cryptocurrencies. But the BIS wants to coordinate key issues such as making sure they work across borders.
The immediate challenges are mainly technological, similar to how the mobile phone world needed standardised coding in the 1990s. But there is also the geopolitical issue as relations between the West and countries such as China and Russia wane.
"This (interoperability) is a topic that has been on the G20 agenda for quite some time.. so I think there is a good chance for this to move forward," Carstens said, adding how there had been a number of "real-life" trials with different CBDCs over the last year.
Asked how long before international standards for CBDC interoperability might be agreed, he said: "I think in the next couple of years. Probably 12 months is too short."
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>>> Ethereum maximalist Mark Cuban says the crypto crash reminds him of Warren Buffett’s advice: ‘When the tide goes out, you get to see who is swimming naked’
Fortune
by Taylor Locke
June 15, 2022
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/ethereum-maximalist-mark-cuban-says-200750202.html
The cryptocurrency market is seeing a flash of failed and struggling projects amid a rough downturn that has left investors fearful over what’s to come.
Looking ahead, billionaire Mark Cuban sees extinction.
“In stocks and crypto, you will see companies that were sustained by cheap, easy money—but didn’t have valid business prospects—will disappear,” the Shark Tank investor and Dallas Mavericks owner told Fortune. “Like [Warren] Buffett says, ‘When the tide goes out, you get to see who is swimming naked.’”
After the Terra ecosystem collapsed, with failed algorithmic stablecoin TerraUSD (UST) and cryptocurrency Luna (LUNC) becoming nearly worthless, there has been a ripple effect throughout the space. This week alone, Celsius Network, one of the largest cryptocurrency lending platforms, halted withdrawals and sparked fears of bankruptcy.
It’s also been reported that prominent cryptocurrency fund Three Arrows Capital is facing possible insolvency after $400 million in liquidations. The value of the global cryptocurrency market dropped below $1 trillion as Bitcoin, the largest cryptocurrency by market value, fell to $20,193, and Ether, the second largest, to $1,023.
Despite the negative market sentiment, Cuban said he expects innovation to come out of the crypto market downturn as well.
“Disruptive applications and technology released during a bear market, whether stocks or crypto or any business, will always find a market and succeed,” he told Fortune.
He says that cryptocurrencies are related to the Nasdaq, which has proved especially true in recent months. Tech stocks and Bitcoin, for example, have moved in tandem lately. The correlation between the Nasdaq 100 and Bitcoin was recently near all-time highs.
“If rates go up, it will struggle till it’s priced in,” Cuban said. “The exception, as with stocks, is for new, game-changing applications.”
Cuban himself is an avid cryptocurrency investor and self-proclaimed Ethereum maximalist. He owns a few cryptocurrencies and non-fungible tokens (NFTs) and has invested in a few blockchain companies.
This story was originally featured on Fortune.com
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>>> Celsius' move to halt crypto withdrawals catches Washington's eye
Yahoo Finance
by Jennifer Schonberger
June 14, 2022
Crypto lender Celsius Network’s decision to pause all withdrawals and transfers for customers as cryptocurrencies plunge is catching the attention of the administration and lawmakers.
The thinking within the Biden administration is that regulations that were proposed to regulate stablecoins by the President Working Group’s report could extend to the entire crypto space to avoid runs and platforms shutting down as in the case of Celsius.
“Recent events, Celsius and USTerra, only reinforce the need for a regulatory framework for digital assets. These events bolster the case for action and the need to mitigate the risks of these assets,” according to an administration official.
Celsius Network stopped all customers’ redemptions and transfers between accounts in the wake of “extreme market conditions” Sunday night as crypto assets plummeted in value, causing some to question the platform’s solvency. Celsius Network’s CEL token has plummeted more than 50%.
Digital currency is used for verified transactions while maintaining a digital record in a decentralized system using cryptography, rather than by a centralized authority.
Kavita Gupta, founder of early stage blockchain fund Delta BC Fund said Celsius is a classic example of lacking liquidity.
“It’s a liquidity issue,” Gupta told Yahoo Finance Live. People who invested in Celsius expecting 16% to 18% returns, Celsius was always vocal it was taking that money as a hedge fund to manage in other assets," Gupta said. "When there was a big withdrawal and everyone tried to get their [crypto] out it was like a classic banking problem. It’s just more people trying to take money out than they have liquidity for.”
The PWG report said stablecoin issuers should have adequate reserves to make sure they can make good on redemptions. The thinking is the same principle should extend to exchanges where there should be adequate reserves held by platforms so that when people want their money back they can get it easily and runs are avoided.
To help ensure against runs, the PWG’s proposals for stablecoins could extend to digital asset exchanges. Like with stablecoin issuers, customer assets should be separated from trading platforms; digital wallets held on exchanges should be subject to federal regulatory oversight; exchanges should be restricted from lending customers’ digital assets out; and they should also comply with liquidity and capital requirements.
The Securities & Exchange Commission did not immediately respond to Yahoo Finance for comment. SEC Chair Gensler has repeatedly encouraged exchanges to register with the agency, threatening enforcement action if not.
Meanwhile, Sen. Kirstin Gillibrand’s (D, NY) office said the senator’s bill jointly introduced with Sen. Cynthia Lummis (R, WY) to regulate crypto would help prevent the current upheaval in crypto markets by bringing crypto exchanges under the purview of the Commodities Futures Trading Commission.
That would require exchanges to hold significantly higher capital — $20 million of net adjusted capital — to back their trading activities. The bill would guarantee that if an exchange or lender suffered financial difficulty, customers would be assured they would get their assets back.
The bill also requires a 100% reserve, asset type, and detailed disclosure requirements for all stablecoin issuers to guarantee that stablecoin holders can redeem the stablecoin in exchange for the equivalent dollar value at any time.
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>>> Kevin O’Leary on US crypto regulation: ‘We need to catch up with the rest of the world’
Yahoo Finance
by Brad Smith
April 18, 2022
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/kevin-o-leary-on-us-crypto-regulation-we-need-to-catch-up-with-the-rest-of-the-world-153530069.html
Shark Tank star and O’Shares Investment Advisers Chairman Kevin O’Leary predicts that one day blockchain and cryptocurrency will represent the 12th sector of the S&P 500 and is "very confident" sensible government crypto regulation will happen before mass adoption.
“The pace and acceleration of policy proposals coming out of bipartisan Senate committees and the Hill has never been greater” Kevin O’Leary said on Yahoo Finance Live “We've got the Lummis bill. We have the Haggerty bill for stablecoin, the Toomey bill for stablecoin. We have the POTUS executive order, all within six weeks of each other, all discussing the future of cryptocurrencies.”
Cryptocurrency regulation has varied internationally, ranging from outright bans to early cases of bitcoin becoming a country's national currency — as El Salvador announced in 2021. Fifteen countries currently ban bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies and deem them illegal in any shape or form, according to data from Cryptimi.
On the opposite end, Canada allows bitcoin ETFs, ethereum ETFs and has licensed a cross-country cryptocurrency dealer.
“There's so much innovation going on in different geographies with regulators at different stages of releasing policy on this, that we have fallen behind in the U.S.,” O’Leary said.
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has yet to introduce regulation for crypto exchanges, but SEC Chair Gary Gensler is hopeful to formalize guidelines this year. Meanwhile, the Federal Reserve published a research and analysis white paper which called attention to the price volatility, limitations on transaction throughput and energy footprint of cryptocurrencies, suggesting the Fed may favor a Central Bank Digital Currency or stablecoin.
Meanwhile, the benefits of cryptocurrency’s underlying technology — blockchain — are being heralded by technologists and the finance sector.
JPMorgan Chairman and CEO Jamie Dimon had historically bashed bitcoin, but in his latest annual shareholder letter, he said, “Decentralized finance and blockchain are real, new technologies that can be deployed in both public and private fashion, permissioned or not.”
Major investment firms have also been pouring capital into blockchain and cryptocurrency unicorns.
O’Leary commented on one such recent deal, “The announcement of BlackRock and Fidelity putting $400 million into USDC, the Circle product — that's unprecedented for such staid financial services companies to make a bet that large on cryptocurrency.”
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Circle USDC - >>> BlackRock, Fidelity and others to invest $400M in USDC stablecoin issuer Circle
TechCrunch
by Jacquelyn Melinek
April 12, 2022
https://finance.yahoo.com/blackrock-fidelity-others-invest-400m-141621168.html
Circle, a crypto-focused financial technology firm, has entered an agreement for a $400 million funding round, the company announced. It is expected to close in the second quarter of 2022.
Investors in the round include BlackRock, Fidelity Management and Research, Marshall Wace and Fin Capital.
In 2018, The Centre Consortium issued its USD Coin (USDC), a stablecoin that is pegged to the U.S. dollar on a 1:1 basis. This means every USDC is backed by $1 in reserves. The Centre has two founding members: Circle and the cryptocurrency exchange giant Coinbase.
In addition to the capital raise, BlackRock has entered a strategic partnership with Circle to be its primary asset manager of USDC cash reserves and explore capital market applications for its stablecoin, among other objectives. "Our broader strategic partnership with BlackRock, announced today, will allow us to explore new use cases where USDC may be an efficient resource in the financial services value chain," Jeremy Allaire, co-founder and CEO of Circle, told TechCrunch.
Crypto is altering the investing landscape for even the most disciplined VCs
USDC is the second-largest stablecoin behind USD Tether (USDT) and the fifth-largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization, according to data on CoinMarketCap. Its market capitalization rose about 370% year over year from $10.82 billion to $50.83 billion and about $5 billion in volume was traded in the past 24 hours, up over 39%.
Although USDC ranks in second place for stablecoins, compared to USDT, it has about $32 billion less in market cap and a 24-hour volume that’s roughly $73.6 billion less than the No. 1 stablecoin.
The fresh capital will be used to promote the company’s strategic growth “as demand for dollar digital currency and related financial services continues to scale globally,” Circle said in a statement.
"This is a milestone moment for Circle and part of the “coming of age” of crypto," Allaire said. Circle is focused on continuing to increase mainstream adoption of USDC and blockchain technology for payments, commerce and financial applications, he added.
This funding comes at an interesting inflection point after the firm delayed its SPAC merger and doubled its valuation to $9 billion in February 2022. It was previously valued at $4.5 billion in July 2021. At the time of the delay, Circle terminated its previous agreement with Concord Acquisition Corp., a publicly traded SPAC, only to reach a new deal with the company for a merger.
The original deal had a termination date of April 3, 2022, but the new agreement has been pushed to December 8, 2022, with the potential to be delayed as far as January 31, 2023, under certain circumstances, according to a press release.
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>>> Major clearing house tests how to settle a CBDC
Yahoo Finance
by Jennifer Schonberger
April 12, 2022
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/clearing-house-cbdc-142923910.html
A major clearing house is working on a prototype to explore how a central bank digital currency could be settled if adopted, as the Federal Reserve and Biden administration explore the pros and cons of a CBDC.
The Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation, which clears and settles trades for stocks and bonds, is teaming up with the Digital Dollar Project, a nonprofit led by former U.S. regulators, to test the design of a CBDC and settling delivery and payment at the same time in a project dubbed Project Lithium.
One of the keys to a central bank digital currency is that it’s instantaneous and settled immediately. Project Lithium is looking at using distributed ledger technology to create the best design that allows the most efficient instantaneous settlement.
“A CBDC could improve time and cost efficiencies, provide broader accessibility to central bank money and payments, and all while emulating the features of physical cash in an increasingly digital world,” said Christopher Giancarlo, co-founder and executive chairman of The Digital Dollar Project and former chairman of the Commodities Futures Trading Commission.
The use of printed U.S. currency is on the decline as markets become more digitized and securities are tokenized. Unlike private cryptocurrencies like bitcoin, a CBDC would be issued and backed by the Federal Reserve, just like U.S. paper dollars and coins.
The pilot will also look into how it can use DTCC’s clearing and settlement capabilities to realize the potential benefits of a CBDC, including improving capital efficiency, lowering counter-party risk, transparency for regulators, and guaranteeing cash and securities are delivered to the proper parties.
This comes as the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Digital Currency Initiative have come up with an initial design for a central bank digital currency. The theoretical coin, which was unveiled as the Federal Reserve explores the pros and cons of adopting one, could handle 1.7 million transactions per second, and settle in under two seconds, the Boston Fed and MIT estimated.
The Federal Reserve hasn’t made a decision on whether to adopt a CBDC yet. But Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said a CBDC could help create a more efficient payment system and could become a form of trusted money comparable to physical cash. She says she’s not sure what conclusions the administration will reach, but that issuing a CBDC would present a “major design and engineering challenge that would require years of development — not months.”
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Square Inc A | SQ | 3.07% |
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JD.com Inc ADR | JD | 1.86% |
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JD.com Inc ADR | JD | 1.61% |
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Texas Instruments Inc | TXN | 1.55% |
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