Market Update & Industry News - Week ending 5 July 2024

🔷 The number one cryptocurrency, Bitcoin, hit a two-month low following the announcement of a Bitcoin exchange that went bankrupt ten years ago, intending to pay back users up to $9b in Bitcoin. Following the German Government seized crypto sell-off and news that Tokyo-based Mt. Gox would start to pay up to 20,000 creditors from a cold wallet has caused markets to slide.

Appold view: We flag this as all is not what it seems. The market did appear to react to these announcements but net inflows into BTC spot ETFs (mostly institutional capital) were net positive for the week. Arguably, speculators and investors appear to be taking differing views. 

🔷 Global stablecoin issuer, Circle, became the first to secure an Electronic Money Institution (EMI) License as a prerequisite to issue stablecoins in the EU under the Markets in Crypto Assets (MiCA) regulatory framework. Circle Mint France will be able to issue the Euro-backed EURC and USDC stablecoin to a market of over 450m users fully regulated and compliant with MiCA from the 1st of July.

Appold view: A mature move from Circle in becoming the first global stablecoin issuer to secure an Electronic Money Institution (EMI) License under the EU’s Markets in Crypto Assets (MiCA) regulatory framework, allowing it to issue Euro-backed EURC and USDC stablecoins.

🔷 A U.S. judge ruled that most of a lawsuit filed by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission against crypto exchange, Binance, will go ahead. This is an additional case following Binance’s guilty plea last year concerning Federal law breaches. The case alleges Binance inflated its trading volumes, diverted customer funds and misleading investors about its market surveillance controls.

Appold view: The latest lawsuit against Binance differs from the previous actions primarily in its scope and focus on securities law violations rather than just anti-money laundering and sanctions breaches. The last fine was over $4bn for Binance and $50m for their previous CEO, Changpeng Zhao (CZ). The scale of this may be bigger. 

🔷 The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission commented on ETH ETF related S-1 Forms submitted by bidders. The first process was the approval of the issuers 19b-4 Form back in May, the final hurdle is authorisation of the S-1 Forms. Many were expecting ETH ETFs to be authorised by the 2nd of July but now the SEC has requested resubmissions by the 8th of July with Gary Gensler stating ETH ETFs could take months to approve.

Appold view: These SEC additional comments were relatively minor but will need addressing. The delay game continues. 

#Marketwatch #Blockchain #Investments