Australia’s financial intelligence agency and watchdog has reminded domestic cryptocurrency exchanges of their new regulatory obligations that includes registration, effective […]
Australias financial intelligence agency and watchdog has reminded domestic cryptocurrency exchanges of their new regulatory obligations that includes registration, effective today.
Francis Suarez, the mayor of Miami, attended an interview for Fox Business this week where he revealed his proposition on cryptocurrencies.
F. Suarez revealed at the outset that he wanted to make Miami an attractive place for the technology industry, and the adoption of Bitcoin could help. However, it would not be just an insignificant acceptance, because the mayor plans to invest a certain part of government funds in the cryptocurrency.
In the context of this topic, F. Suarez said:
If I would have done it last year, I would have made 200 plus percent,
So I would have looked like a genius.
Immediately afterwards, the mayor introduced another important innovation, namely that Miami is working to ensure that citizens can pay taxes and fees in Bitcoins to the city.
We want to be one of the most crypto-forward and technological cities in the country,
So we’re looking at … creating a regulatory framework that makes us the easiest place in the United States to do business if you’re doing it in cryptocurrencies.
Suarez hopes that he will be able to bring more high-tech companies to Miami in this way, which, as a creative and innovative class, will create high-paying jobs for the locals.
Read also: Russian economist A. Aksakov called Bitcoin a bubble that would burst over time
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The activity of Bitcoin miners almost simultaneously correlates with the increasing price of BTC. The latest proof of this is the indicator of the total hash rate in the Bitcoin network, which is currently reaching the new ATH.
The estimated number of terahashes per second the Bitcoin network was on January 16, 2021 153.019 which is the highest measured value ever.
When it comes to mining hashrate, this is one of the key metrics of network security. The more hashing power in the network, the higher the security and overall resistance to attacks.
Read also: Bitcoin futures open interest reaching new ATH
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TASS conducted an interview on digital currencies today with Anatoly Aksakov, a renowned economist and head of the State Duma Financial Market Committee of Russia.
Despite the fact that A. Aksakov only recently declared that the digital ruble is one of the future forms of the ruble against Bitcoin itself is skeptical.
Although Aksakov first pointed out that Bitcoin is the mother of blockchain and it is thanks to it that the technology has gained great popularity and is widely used.
He immediately criticized Bitcoin as the currency, because its value is determined by people’s trust, and it is in this context that Aksakov says “Bitcoin is the basis of one of the bubbles in the crypto market, and I think sooner or later this bubble must burst.”
A. Aksakov also added:
I think bitcoin should be regulated. Maybe it should be banned as a means of payment.
Finally, the Russian economist recalled that a new law on digital financial assets is already in place in the country, which prohibits the use of cryptocurrencies as a means of payment, and all cryptocurrency owners must declare income from which they must pay taxes.
Read also: HSBC, the largest bank in Europe, blocks crypto payments
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The price of Bitcoin is again in the $ 40K range, which raises the need for most traders to engage in speculation and trading about the future price of BTC.
It was during this period that the activity of traders in the markets with Bitcoin futures contracts increased rapidly. The increase also accumulated due to instead of physically delivering Bitcoin after the settlement of the contract they delivered FIAT.
According to the latest data from skew, Bitcoin futures open interest has achieved a new ATH today.
For specific exchanges, the largest open interest by some margin was recorded on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) at $ 2.39b.
Read also: PayPal cleared $ 242M in crypto trades in just one day
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The second most popular cryptocurrency in the world currently has a strong group of investors (hodlers) who have decided not to trade and store this cryptocurrency in their cold wallet.
With that data came analysts from Trustnodes, who found that in just over a week, about 1M ETH worth $ 1.2 billion had been withdrawn from exchanges like Coinbase and Kraken.
As for the longer time frame, ETHs held on crypto exchanges have fallen from 14M to 10M (-28.5%) since May last year.
Read also: The DeFi market exploded in 2021
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As you know, on 22nd of December 2020, the Securities and Exchange Commission brought an action against Ripple for an unregistered offer of securities.
Since then, a wave of reactions has started, such as the suspension of trading on Binance US, Coinbase and EToro US. A lawsuit from the British investment company Tetragon Financial Group Ltd or the current report that the leader in digital currency investing has been canceled for the Grayscale XRP Trust (XRP) product.
Grayscale states that one of the main reasons is the fact that XRP has been delisted from popular trading platforms, making it increasingly difficult to convert XRP to US dollars.
As for the shareholders of this product, Grayscale stated:
In connection with the dissolution, the Sponsor has liquidated the Trust’s XRP and intends to distribute the net cash proceeds to Trust shareholders, after deducting expenses and providing appropriate reserves and subject to any applicable withholding.
The Trust will terminate following distribution of the net cash proceeds.
Read also: The leading Swiss stock exchange is listing the new Bitcoin ETP
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A post has appeared on the Internet these days claiming that the popular P2P Bitcoin marketplace, LocalBitcoins, is closing all accounts in 13 US states, namely FL, CT, UT, AR, NV, NE, MS, IA, DC, ND, MN, KY, VT.
This information was posted on the popular reddit r/Bitcoin but the user has already deleted some of their content.
However, as this information spreads at great speed, the original message that LocalBitcoins sends to its clients has been preserved:
LocalBitcoins confirmed the truth of this situation for the crypto daily beINcrypto.
Read also: HSBC, the largest bank in Europe, blocks crypto payments
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The Swiss Stock Exchange, the world’s leading marketplace for regulated crypto products, announces a new partnership with the ETC Group. From now on, ETC Group will be the new issuer to have the BTCetc Bitcoin ETP product listed on the Swiss SIX Stock Exchange.
We welcome ETC Group to the family of ETP providers offering their products at SIX. With the new product, investors gain access to 100 different crypto products trading on our platform and with this have even more opportunities to diversify their portfolio.
Christian Reuss, Head SIX Swiss Exchange, Markets, SIX
The newly listed BTCE product is focused on the development of the price of bitcoin and is 100% physically backed. Investors are thus assured that this is a transparent way to obtain exposure to Bitcoin.
All this thanks to ETC Group’s specializations in the innovative digital asset-backed securities and support from major financial institutions in London.
As for the Swiss Stock Exchange, 2020 was extremely successful for it when trading turnover in crypto products exceeded CHF 1.1 billion.
Read also: PayPal cleared $ 242M in crypto trades in just one day
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British investors who managed to profit from cryptocurrencies during this period are not welcome in some banks. In this case, it is HSBC, which does not support transfers from cryptocurrency exchanges.
The hostile attitude from HSBC was reported by the British daily The Times, which also stated that bank “does not process cryptocurrency payments or allow customers to bank money from digital wallets.”
As for the other leading banks in the UK, they will accept transfers from digital wallets to current accounts. However, if customers want to use their credit card to buy or sell bitcoins, this will not be possible.
HSBC was the 6th largest bank in the world in 2020, and the largest in Europe, with total assets of $2.715 trillion (as of August 2020).
Read also: India is in favor of cryptocurrencies and opens the world’s first physical crypto bank
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As you know, one of the most important factors that started the bull market on cryptocurrencies was the payment giant PayPal.
The fact that PayPal decided to support the global use of cryptocurrencies has caused increased interest in cryptocurrencies, and it seems that the Fomo effect (Fear of missing out ) on cryptocurrencies persists to this day.
This situation is confirmed by the data from January 11, when PayPal cleared $ 242M in crypto sales.
According to investor Alex Saunders, this is almost double the previous record.
Read also: Exactly ten years ago, BTC was worth $ 0.29
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As we wrote to you in the previous analysis, what we are currently seeing on Bitcoin is not only euphoric but also of great concern. These concerns are linked in particular to what area traders will be able to see it as support, which will hold them even in difficult moments.
With its exponential growth, Bitcoin has surpassed several important price areas, and it seems that now is the time for the bulls to start building support zones.
For the next 24 hours, it will therefore be very important to monitor the likely new support in the area of $ 30K, which, if Bitcoin lasts, may again consider further growth. Subsequently, it will also be necessary to overcome the resistance at $ 35K.
Technical analysis:
Read also: The DeFi market exploded in 2021
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The Austrian Financial Market Authority, the FMA, tightened regulations on money laundering and cryptocurrencies about a year ago and so these days it has published a report evaluating their effectiveness.
The regulations set a clear condition that any cryptocurrency service provider must first register with the FMA. Thanks to this step, the Finanzmarktaufsicht (FMA) has full supervision and is able to provide accurate figures on applications and registrations.
According to the FMA, a total of 40 applications for registration were submitted and registration took place in 18 cases.
Out of the 18 registered companies, the most of the service providers are related to the operation of crypto wallets or the exchange platform.
FMA board members Helmut Ettl and Eduard Müller also stated:
The FMA pursues a clear ‘zero tolerance’ approach to money laundering and terrorist financing.
If a company appears that it offers services without registration, it can be fined up to € 200,000 ($243K).
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The year 2021 is so far extremely successful for the DeFi market. Only 10 days have passed since the beginning of the year and the DeFi market has already managed to increase its value by 50% during this period.
If we look at the graph, we can see that the turning point was on January 1st 2021. From that moment on, the curve on the TVL graph changed from quite calm to exponential.
On January 1st, the total value locked in DeFi was $ 15.36B, today on January 10th, TVL is $ 23.09B (at the time of writing) and it looks like it will continue to grow.
As for the TOP 3 DeFi protocols, Maker comes in first in the lending category with a locked value of $ 4.45B (at the time of writing) and 19.37% dominance. Second place belongs to Aave, also in the lending category with a locked value of $ 2.92B (at the time of writing). Third place went to Uniswap in the DeXes category with a locked value of $ 2.83B (at the time of writing).
Read also: Bithumb has agreed to sell a 65% stake for nearly $ 500 million
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It seems that the growth of Bitcoin cannot be stopped. The latest evidence is the price exceedance of $ 40K as well as the historic highest average volume on the leading crypto exchanges.
As you can see on the chart, Bitcoin has been fighting for $ 40K since yesterday until it finally made it today, reaching $ 41,823.
However, the price of Bitcoin is not the only indicator that breaks records. The latest statistics from Arcane Research show that the leading spot exchanges reached for the first time in history 7-day average above $ 10 billion.
The highest historical daily volume was recorded yesterday at $ 13.8 billion, which represents an increase of more than 130% since the previous peak in 2017.
Read also: Bitcoin miners current revenue is $ 33 million per day
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Kim Jung-ju, the founder of the South Korean company Nexon for online games, is increasingly interested in crypto business. According to the latest reports, it was he who initiated the business where he promoted his interest, and the result is the purchase of 65% of the total share of Bithumb.
The purchase price is about 500 billion won ($ 456M) and this share will be transferred to the holding company NXC, where Kim Jung-ju is the chairman. The NXC is took over all of Bithumb’s shares held by Chairman Lee Jung-hoon.
Bithumb was scheduled to start selling already in August last year, but due to an investigation by the chairman and the largest shareholder, Lee Jung-hoon, for fraud, the process was suspended.
However, NXC is no crypto newcomer, currently also holding 83% of Korbit, an exchange based in Seoul.
Read also: Bitcoin miners current revenue is $ 33 million per day
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Malta is becoming another country that opens the door to digital assets. This happened after the Malta Financial Services Authority granted permission to operate both a prime broker and exchange for Bequant.
The CEO at Bequant, George Zarya does not hide his enthusiasm and says:
We are delighted to continue collaborating with the MFSA as the industry matures and more institutions enter the space needing a one-stop-shop to satisfy their needs. This decision shows Bequant’s commitment to bridging the gap between traditional finance and digital assets.
According to available information, Bequant Exchange Limited and Bequant Pro Limited were first registered in Malta on 31 Aug 2018. In the same year, the Malta Financial Services Authority (MFSA) was one of the first regulators in the world to introduce a comprehensive regulatory regime for digital assets.
Read also: Sweden fears that the digital e-krona could undermine financial stability
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We’ve only recently written to you about Bitcoin miners earning huge rewards of $ 1,000,000 per hour, but these rewards continue to rise along with rising prices of Bitcoin.
Rafael Schultze-Kraft, CTO at glassnode, is researching the data in detail and today announced that Bitcoin miners are currently earning $ 33 million a day.
Calculating it per hour, it comes to $ 1,375,000, which is since the last report on December 29, when we reported that the value exceeded the $ 1M per hour the increase of 37.5% in 8 days.
Rafael also points out that in the post-halving period until October 2020, the average daily income was around $ 10M.
Read also: Exactly ten years ago, BTC was worth $ 0.29
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After the SEC filed a lawsuit against Ripple Labs Inc. last month. We are witnessing another lawsuit for an unregistered offer of securities. This time it is the British investment company Tetragon Financial Group Ltd, which, according to Bloomberg, should have a total assets of $ 2.32 billion.
The investment firm has stated that it seeks to “enforce its contractual right to require Ripple to redeem” preferred stock (Series C) that it owns and also wants Ripple to be blocked from using any cash or other liquid assets until the process is completed.
Tetragon should have asked the court for an expedited procedure in this case.
Ripple immediately objected to the allegation, arguing that Tetragon’s lawsuit has “no merit”, as there is no decision yet that XRP is an unregistered security as stated by the SEC.
The SEC lawsuit against Ripple also has serious consequences for trading in the XRP token when the largest crypto exchanges have announced the suspension of XRP trading.
Read also: Binance US, Coinbase and EToro US will soon suspend trading in XRP
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According to information released by Reuters today, some Swedish bankers are currently concerned that the e-krona could disrupt the country’s financial stability.
Bankers began to engage in a heated debate after the e-krona pilot program ended in December and it was time for a review. As we informed you, the pilot project was initiated by the Riksbank, Sweden’s central bank, which wants to make payments via e-krona as easy as sending text messages.
At present, however, there is a conflict of opinion and bankers from Stockholm claim that such payments can radically change the dynamics of the banking system.
One of the biggest doubters is Masih Yazdi, chief financial officer of Sweden’s largest corporate bank SEB, who thinks that if people move their money from deposit accounts to the e-krona, this situation could deprive banks of funding and the necessary liquidity.
Masih Yazdi also said:
If you have a bank account but you can – at the click of a button – move your money to the central bank … that could risk instability in the system,
However, Riksbank Deputy Governor Cecilia Skingsley rejects such fears, arguing that people can already now leave the banking system, for example by buying treasury bills.
We already have to face the risks that there are cyber runs out of the banking system. I don’t think a CBDC will fundamentally change that to a worse situation,
Skingsley told Reuters in November
Riksbank’s interest in the e-krona was also questioned by Rickard Eriksson, an advisor for the Swedish Bankers Association, who is concerned that the central bank has still not made it clear what is going to happen with the digital money the bank will collect.
Read also: Serbia is becoming another country that is legalizing cryptocurrencies
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The regulatory environment for cryptocurrencies in the US is tightening, but as far as national banks are concerned, they are getting green if they want to use stablecoins.
The official report states that national banks and federal savings association authorities can now use stablecoins to perform payment activities and other bank-permissible functions.
The letter, published by the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC), also clarifies the right to participate in independent node verification networks (INVN).
While governments in other countries have built real-time payments systems, the United States has relied on our innovation sector to deliver real-time payments technologies. Some of those technologies are built and managed by bank consortia and some are based on independent node verification networks such as blockchains,
Acting Comptroller of the Currency Brian P. Brooks
The President’s Working Group on Financial Markets recently articulated a strong framework for ushering in an era of stablecoin-based financial infrastructure, identifying important risks while allowing those risks to be managed in a technology-agnostic way. Our letter removes any legal uncertainty about the authority of banks to connect to blockchains as validator nodes and thereby transact stablecoin payments on behalf of customers who are increasingly demanding the speed, efficiency, interoperability, and low cost associated with these products.
Acting Comptroller of the Currency Brian P. Brooks
The letter also emphasizes the efficiency, effectiveness and stability of payment activities, which can be ensured by engaging in INVN. The OCC also thinks that payment activities can also be more resilient, as networks are decentralized and allow transactions to be credibly verified by a large number of nodes.
INVNs such as Blockchain also limit unauthorized access, manipulation or the addition of inaccurate information to the database.
However, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency emphasizes that new technologies require sufficient knowledge to enable banks to manage potential risks in a safe and reliable manner.
Read also: Exactly ten years ago, BTC was worth $ 0.29
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