Digital Assets Report 73
- Institutional adoption of Digital Assets continue as a16z launches new Metaverse fund, Brevan Howard Hedge Fund raises funds from banking giants Goldman Sachs & Barclays, and Nomura forms an institutions focused crypto unit.
- Vitalik Buterin claims that Ethereum merge could happen by August.
- Bitcoin & Crypto markets trade sideways after last week's crash.
- Report uncovers significant underground mining activity in China.
Business
Andreessen Horowitz Launches $600M Fund Focused on Metaverse Games - Decrypt
A16z pointed to the success of games with massive followings, such as Fortnite, League of Legends, and Minecraft.
Jason Nelson
Alan Howard’s Crypto Company Bags $70M in a Funding Round Led by Barclays and Goldman
Banking giants Goldman Sachs and Barclays have invested in Alan Howard’s cryptocurrency trading platform.
Mandy Williams
FTX US Launches Zero-Commission Equities Trading Platform – Bitcoin News
The launch is currently in a private beta phase for select U.S. customers and equities can be purchased with fiat-backed stablecoins.
News
Japan’s Largest Investment Bank Formed Institutions-Focused Crypto Unit
Nomura considered its expansion into crypto services as a reasonable move in a time of decades-high inflation.
Jay Zhuang
Swiss Luxury Watchmaker TAG Heuer Now Accepts Bitcoin As Payment Online
Swiss luxury watchmaker TAG Heuer is now accepting online bitcoin payments in a partnership with BitPay.
Shawn Amick
MicroStrategy’s New CFO Says Bitcoin Strategy Unchanged Amid Market Drop: Report
Andrew Kang spoke to The Wall Street Journal Wednesday regarding MicroStrategy’s bitcoin strategy.
Michael Bellusci
WEF 2022: Blockchain and digitization to take center stage at Davos
Blockchain will be also a key topic of discussion around its role in the fourth industrial revolution and governance in the future.
Prashant Jha
Vitalik Buterin Confirms Ethereum’s Merge Could Happen in August
Vitalik Buterin, along with a few core Ethereum developers, claimed that The Merge will be completed in August this year.
Jordan Lyanchev
Do Kwon proposes Terra hard fork to save ecosystem
It is the second proposal to salvage the LUNA ecosystem after a week of record market volatility.
Zhiyuan Sun
Circle Says USDC Reserve Backed Entirely in Cash and Short-Dated US Treasuries – Bitcoin News
Circle recently published a blog post called “How to Be Stable,” following the aftermath of Terra’s stablecoin implosion.
News
Tether Cut Commercial Paper Reserve by 17% in Q1, Accountants Say
The reduction has continued with a further 20% cut since April 1, which will be reflected in the Q2 report, the stablecoin issuer said.
Jamie Crawley
New Data Shows Underground Bitcoin Mining Thriving in China
The U.S. has also expanded its lead in the global hashrate competition.
Nathaniel Whittemore
El Salvador Invites Over 40 Central Banks for International Event on Bitcoin El Salvador Invites Over 40 Central Banks for Int’l Event on Bitcoin
It will be one of the largest events of government officials on bitcoin -- an issue they have been mostly shying away It will be one of the largest events of government officials on bitcoin -- an issue they have been mostly shying away
Arun Srivastav
First a Hum and Then a Bang: Niagara Falls Residents Forced to Reckon With Crypto Mining
The city in New York has imposed a moratorium on new bitcoin mining operations as complaints about noise were compounded by an explosion and fire at a mining site last week.
Eliza Gkritsi
Aave launches Web3 social media platform, Lens Protocol
Aave created Lens Protocol to eliminate data harvesting.
Ornella Hernández
Markets
Crypto Charts 67
BTC A break below $27′200 will confirm a move lower to $25′424 is underway. ETH A break below $1′920 will confirm a move lower to $1′540 will be underway, from where we could start building a long-term position. Bitcoin Last time we said: ’Looking at the wave count we should
Market Intelligence 24
BTC experienced a volatile week and dropped to lows last seen in 2020. UST stablecoin lost its dollar peg & LUNA crashed by 99%. Luna Foundation Guard emptied 80k BTC reserves. Tether temporarily lost its dollar peg as investors increasingly rotate into USDC. BTC experienced historic levels of r…
Crypto Investors Buy Market Dip, Weekly Inflows Hit Record High
The crypto market has plunged to its lowest level in approximately 12 months.
China still hosts 21% of the total #Bitcoin hash rate in spite of ban 🇨🇳
— Bitcoin Magazine (@BitcoinMagazine) May 17, 2022
Anti-fragility at its best.
Regulations
Portugal to Tax Cryptocurrency Income According to Minister of Finance – News Bitcoin News
Portugal, a country considered a crypto tax haven due to its absence of crypto-related taxation, is preparing to change its tax policies.
News
FCA will ‘absolutely’ consider recent stablecoin depegging when drafting crypto rules: Report
Financial Conduct Authority said the regulator will “absolutely” take into account stablecoins depegging from the U.S. dollar.
Turner Wright
Crypto Should Meet Same Norms as Regular Finance, G7 Says
Finance ministers want to see financial stability and money-laundering standards in effect soon, citing recent market turmoil.
Jack Schickler
Biden Administration Wants Crypto Exchanges to Separate Customer and Corporate Funds
Federal officials saw Coinbase’s admission about customers’ vulnerability in a bankruptcy and will call for congressional action to segregate clients’ funds, source says.
Jesse Hamilton
Panama’s president says he won’t sign crypto bill into law ’at this moment’
Panama President Laurentino Cortizo said he approved of certain aspects of the crypto bill, but hinted at possible illicit uses of digital assets that needed to be addressed before he signed it into law.
Turner Wright
Opinions
We haven’t sold any positions amid crypto collapse, says SkyBridge Capital’s Anthony Scaramucci
Anthony Scaramucci, managing partner at Skybridge Capital, joins ‘Closing Bell: Overtime’ to discuss his outlook on the $800 billion correction in cryptocurrencies.
Readings / Podcasts
UST aftermath: Is there any future for algorithmic stablecoins?
Pure algo stables, which put up no collateral at all, are “inherently fragile,” according to some observers.
Andrew Singer