Crypto Companies Announce Licenses, Acquisitions, New Products
According to recent reports, a major Chicago-based digital asset trading desk recently obtained a BitLicense from the New York Department of Financial Services. The license allows the company to engage in virtual currency activities in the state of New York.
Separately, in a recent blog post, U.S. fintech and blockchain development company Ripple announced that it has completed its acquisition of a major digital asset custody provider. According to the blog post, the acquisition “adds a limited purpose trust company regulated by the New York Department of Financial Services to [Ripple’s] license portfolio, which includes nearly 40 money transmitter licenses throughout the U.S. as well as a Major Payment Institution License from the Monetary Authority of Singapore, and a Virtual Asset Service Provider (VASP) registration with the Central Bank of Ireland.”
In another recent development, Tether announced “the official launch of Alloy by Tether, a ground-breaking tethered asset backed by Tether Gold.” According to a press release, Alloy by Tether (aUSD₮) is a token “designed to track the value of one US dollar” and “is over-collateralized by Tether Gold (XAU₮), which means it is supported by real physical gold stored in Switzerland.”
In a final notable item, according to reports, a major Latin American bank, Itaú Unibanco, has recently expanded its bitcoin and ether trading services to all bank customers. Previously the bank reportedly offered the services only to selected clients.
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BIS Publishes Results of Survey on CBDCs and Cryptocurrencies
The Bank for International Settlements (BIS) recently published the results of its 2023 survey on central bank digital currencies (CBDCs) and cryptocurrencies. Key findings from the survey include the following:
- Ninety-four percent of surveyed central banks are exploring a CBDC.
- The likelihood that central banks will issue a wholesale CBDC within the next six years exceeds the likelihood that they will issue a retail CBDC.
- Key features being considered for wholesale CBDCs are interoperability and programmability.
- Key features being considered for retail CBDCs are holding limits, interoperability, offline options and zero remuneration.
- With respect to cryptocurrencies, to date, stablecoins are rarely used for payments outside the crypto ecosystem.
- About two out of three responding jurisdictions have or are working on a framework to regulate stablecoins and other cryptoassets.
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Major Exchange Publishes Crypto Market Data in ‘Midyear Review’
A major U.S. cryptocurrency exchange recently published its midyear review, in which it presents “10 charts that cover some key crypto market fundamental and technical trends.” Among its findings, the report analyzes “the growth in total value locked (TVL) normalized by the price appreciation of the native gas token across the top layer-1 (L1) and layer-2 (L2) networks.” The report also “isolate[s] the impacts of the CME futures basis trade on ETF flows, showing that the growth of non-hedged exposure to BTC ETFs has slowed considerably since early April.” The charts published in the report address the following: (1) TVL growth adjusted by native gas token price; (2) Activity Impulse: Total transaction fees vs. active addresses; (3) Breakdown of Ethereum transaction fee spends; (4) Layer-2 value locked has grown throughout 2024; (5) Active BTC supply has been on a downtrend in Q2; (6) Correlation matrix (90 day window); (7) Average daily volumes for crypto majors by month; (8) BTC futures open interest (notional value); (9) ETH futures open interest (notional value); and (10) US spot bitcoin ETF market cap vs. CME bitcoin open interest.
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DOJ Targets Dark Market; NY AG Announces Crypto Settlement Recovery
According to a recent press release issued by the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), two men have been charged with operating “Empire Market,” which enables users to “anonymously buy and sell more than $430 million in illegal goods and services around the world” through a dark web marketplace. Empire Market allegedly facilitated approximately “four million transactions between vendors and buyers” between 2018 and 2020. According to the release, “[t]housands of vendors and buyers accessed Empire Market through specialized anonymizing software” to sell illicit goods and services. In connection with the investigation, law enforcement has…
Read More: Weekly Blockchain Blog – June 2024 #4 | BakerHostetler