Appold Market Watch - Week ending 16 August 2024
Market Update & Industry News - Week ending 16 August 2024
🔷 Institutional holdings from Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs reflected in a 13F regulatory filing to the SEC that they held more than $600m in spot Bitcoin ETFs in the second quarter of this year.
Appold view: Overall, the changes indicate a significant increase for Goldman Sachs from their Q1 reporting and a slight reduction in exposure for Morgan Stanley, as well as more activity moving from the Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (Btc) (GBTC) to BlackRock’s (IBIT). These changes reflect a more aggressive stance towards Bitcoin ETFs in Q2 2024.
🔷 MetaMask in partnership with Mastercard and Baanx Group Ltd launched a crypto debit card for users in Europe and the UK. The card allows users to spend their cryptocurrency directly from their MetaMask wallets at any location that accepts Mastercard, offering a new way for crypto holders to utilise their digital assets in everyday transactions.
Appold view: Allowing card users to make payments directly from their self-custody wallets certainly bridges the gap between digital assets and traditional finance. The card currently supports USD Coin (USD Coin), Tether (USDT) and Wrapped Ether (WETH) and does not support direct USD payments.
🔷 Physical hardware wallet provider, Ledger announced a partnership with global Fintech, Revolut to expand digital asset payment rails in specific European Economic Area (EEA) countries. Revolut will join Ledger Live, a digital asset self-custodial wallet application as an official buy provider using the Revolut account or card, Ledger Live is already active in 27 EEA countries.
Appold view: This will allow Revolut’s large customer base to access and manage their assets and view their portfolios on the Ledger live platform. This enhances Revolut’s scope of services as it seeks to broaden offerings beyond traditional banking, as well as heighten Ledger’s reputation with a strong partner.
🔷 The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filed fraud charges against promoters of Novatech for allegedly running a $650m crypto pyramid scheme. The SEC accused the promoters of misleading investors by falsely promising high returns through investments in cryptocurrency trading and failing to disclose the company’s financial struggles.
Appold view: This was reported to be a multiple-level marketing (MLM) Ponzi scheme under the guise of crypto and FX trading, as opposed to an actual digital asset industry market participant. Sadly, over 200,000 people have been reported to be affected..
#Marketwatch #Blockchain #Investments
