The biggest crypto news and ideas of the day |
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Coinbase Announces Tokenized Fund |
The asset management arm of U.S.-listed cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase (COIN) is creating a tokenized money-market fund, jumping into one of the hottest crypto-powered corners of finance, according to four people familiar with the plan. Tokenization, or representing ownership of real-world assets (RWAs) through blockchain-based products, has become one of the big trends in crypto of late. BlackRock, the world's biggest asset manager, introduced a fund called BUIDL that holds U.S. Treasuries. That fund quickly hit $500 million of assets following its introduction in March. For investors, tokenized funds provide numerous potential benefits, including the transparency provided by blockchain-linked assets and the possibility of greater liquidity. For issuers, there are efficiency gains. For Coinbase Asset Management specifically, this would represent an expansion of the company's already publicly known attempt to break into the tokenization space. In December, the company received in-principle approval from an Abu Dhabi regulator to start tokenizing traditional assets on Base, the exchange's Ethereum scaling network. Two of the people familiar with the matter said Coinbase Asset Management has been working with Bermuda-based Apex Group to help facilitate its tokenized fund. Apex services over $3 trillion of assets across custody, administration, depositary and managed funds. |
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Investors traded over $1 billion worth of shares of the freshly launched ether (ETH) exchange-traded fund (ETF) issuers on the first day of their availability, data from Bloomberg shows. Of this $1 billion, there was a net inflow of $106.7 million, according to a tracker from SoSoValue. Most of the outflow came from Grayscale's Ethereum Trust (ETHE), which saw $484 million in outflow. The spot bitcoin ETFs, for example, saw $4.5 billion in trading volume on launch day but only roughly $600 million of that represented inflows. The BlackRock iShares Ethereum Trust ETF (ETHA) had the most inflow at $266.5 million, followed by Bitwise's Ethereum ETF (ETHW) at $204 million. With the overall trading volume maxing out at $1.077 billion, the funds saw roughly 20% of the trading volume that the spot bitcoin ETFs experienced on launch day in January. Many market observers had speculated that volume and flow for the ETH ETFs would be underwhelming due to a lack of staking mechanism. Ether is currently trading below $3500, according to CoinDesk Indices data. |
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Bitcoin rewards app Fold is planning a public listing on Nasdaq through a merger with special-purpose acquisition company (SPAC) Emerald Acquisition Corp. (EMLD). New York-based Fold offers a cashback debit card which provides bitcoin rewards instead of traditional rewards one would expect from other related products. Fold's cards have processed over $2 billion in volume and distributed more than $45 million worth of rewards, according to an announcement on Wednesday. The transaction, which has been unanimously approved by the boards of both firms, will have a pre-money equity valuation of $365 million. The post-transaction entity will also have more than 1,000 BTC ($67 million) on its balance sheet. Fold has not yet disclosed the expected closing of the merger nor the ticker it will trader under on Nasdaq. |
While it is difficult to assess how presidential nominee Kamala Harris might approach crypto, the mere fact that she's now the new standard bearer for her party suggests the crypto industry can take a new approach toward the 2024 election, writes Nik De, CoinDesk's regulatory editor. "You play the hand that you're dealt, and now we have a new set of cards," said Sheila Warren, the CEO of the Crypto Council for Innovation, an industry interest group. It's unlikely that Harris will pivot the Democratic campaign to being immediately and overtly appealing to crypto, but multiple people tell me that her taking over the campaign will be a reset. A Congressional staffer told CoinDesk that the new campaign provides "an opportunity to reset," pointing out that industry groups have already written open letters to the campaign and Democratic Party about crypto. And, in their view, the new campaign may be more receptive to these issues. Something both the staffer and Warren pointed out is Harris being from California implies she may already be more comfortable with technology and related issues. "She is certainly not unfamiliar with the importance of technology, it's critical in her state," Warren said. "She's a person who has markedly always been open to thoughtful arguments." Harris' pick for vice president will also be telling. Many of the names currently in the mix – including Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro, North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper, Arizona Senator Mark Kelly or Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg – are "pretty pro business for the most part," Warren said. Harris choosing anyone in that mold would be a meaningful move. This isn't a one-sided conversation. Industry groups and individuals have already drafted open letters to the Democratic Party and Harris' campaign specifically, asking for less "hostility" toward the crypto industry. "We urge you to sit down with leaders in the digital asset and blockchain industry to discuss policies that support and nurture this technology.
Open dialogue with industry experts will provide valuable insights and help craft policies that encourage growth while ensuring consumer protection and financial stability," one such letter from the Digital Chamber read. |
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Being Compliant is the Key: Understanding the Growth of Fastex There’s a new art gallery in Yerevan, Armenia. You’ll find a sleek space, tasteful lighting, and creative works of art. Sculptures that look like eyeballs are emblazoned with bursts of color — fiery reds, bold yellows, soothing blues. But there’s a twist. Each eyeball is linked to a corresponding NFT, meaning it’s a blend of the physical and the digital. The art galleries are “phygital.” Continue reading. |
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The Takeaway: The Decoupler-in-Chief? |
By George Kaloudis, CoinDesk senior analyst: Since the market opened yesterday, the S&P500 has lost 1.8%, the tech-heavy Nasdaq-100 is down 3.0% and tech darling Nvidia (NVDA) bled 5.3%.
Normally, bitcoin follows stocks (especially tech stocks) on their daily moves, but this time, as of writing, bitcoin (BTC) is instead up 0.5%. What gives? It’s a small window of time, sure, but in a week where we are seeing Mt. Gox-related selling pressure and underwhelming spot ether ETF inflows, it’s surprising how well bitcoin has held today, considering especially how it usually moves. Market commentators have long pointed out that Bitcoin is just a tech stock given its strong correlation to them. Bitcoin optimists, myself included, have been preaching about the impending decoupling when bitcoin sheds all asset correlations and becomes an uncorrelated macro asset that belongs in every balanced portfolio. But it hasn’t always seemed that way. Narrative drives the day-to-day market moves, so what narrative does Bitcoin have that the stock market doesn’t have right now? Donald Trump.
Donald Trump is not speaking at the biggest Stock Market Conference this week; mainstream investors aren’t eagerly awaiting what the former U.S. President might say on Nvidia; there are no rumors that a Nasdaq-100 strategic reserve will be announced.
But Trump is speaking at the Bitcoin Conference this week; bitcoin supporters are eagerly awaiting what the former U.S. President might say in a Saturday speech there; there are rumors that he’ll announce a Bitcoin strategic reserve. It appears that, absent any other strong narratives, Trump is insulating bitcoin from the price action of tech stocks. Trump may be making a bid for the U.S. presidency and perhaps he deserves a new title: bitcoin’s decoupler-in-chief. Whatever happens Saturday, Trump’s speech is shaping up to potentially be a “sell the event” event, as some market analysts have predicted. Trump could say or claim any number of things about bitcoin during his speech; who knows what. What’s for sure, though, is that his words will have wide sweeping effects on the crypto market. |
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