weekly roundup – Latest Reports | CBDC | Bitcoin
This week we’re looking at the latest reports and announcements just issued by BIS, Banque de France, FINMA and PWC, along with some other tasty big reads on our team’s radar from the past 7 days.
Last Time this Signal Flashed, Crypto Rallied by 50%. It’s Back Again
Bitcoin and the rest of the crypto market have performed surprisingly well over the past few days. Last week, bitcoin hit $7,200, which marks a nearly 100% bottom from the ~$3,800 bottom that was put in place on 13th March. Even though the rally has cooled off, BTC is trading just below the levels seen pre-crash. And crypto could continue to creep higher, key indicators suggest – according to a Bloomberg report published 3 April, bitcoin recently pushed above a key technical resistance, allowing the DVAN Buying and Selling Pressure Gauge to print a “positive divergence and a buy signal.” “A nice recovery from the lows leaves investors hopeful,” cryptocurrency-analysis firm Arcane Research wrote in a report on Friday.
Wall Street’s Top Crypto Bets Outperformed the S&P 500 during Market Crash
According to data compiled by Yahoo Finance, a collection of publicly-traded companies with a $1 billion market cap or higher who are actively involved in cryptocurrencies outperformed the S&P 500 by a wide margin during March, despite the collapse in bitcoin prices.
The Bitcoin Custodian with BitGo CEO Mike Belshe
While BitGo may not be as much of a household name as Coinbase and Binance, they’re easily one of the industry’s most important institutional custodians. BitGo supports custody for over 200 assets and in 2019 alone, accounted for 20% of all transactions on the Bitcoin blockchain. In this conversation with Ryan Selkis, CEO Mike Belshe shares his views on the role of custodians in the industry, BitGo’s approach to asset selection, and how he views bitcoin’s prospects in light of the current economic crisis.
BIS Calls for Central Bank Digital Currencies amid Coronavirus Pandemic
The Bank of International Settlements (BIS) has issued a report arguing in favour of central bank digital currencies (CBDCs) and digital payments amid the COVID-19 pandemic. The bulletin urges central banks to consider developing CBDCs in light of concerns regarding the spread of coronavirus through existing payment methods.
France Trials Central Bank Owned Digital Currency
The central bank of France has launched an experimental program to test the integration of the digital euro in settlement procedures. The central bank wants to identify the benefits of CBDC and analyse the effects of CBDC on financial stability and monetary policy.
Can Hester Peirce’s Safe Harbour Proposal Save Cryptocurrency? Opinions From Leading Legal And Regulatory Experts
It’s been nearly two months since Hester Peirce published a proposal for a three year safe harbour for crypto projects in an opinion piece “Running on Empty: A Proposal to Fill the Gap Between Regulation and Decentralisation.”
The proposal has attracted a lot of interest and commentary and this article suggests it has little chance of making it into law. Experts in the legal and regulatory field with backgrounds in financial technology and cryptocurrency add their reflections.
FINMA Annual Report – List Security Tokens and DLT
Last week, the Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority (FINMA) published its annual report for 2019. Interestingly, the report highlights developments surrounding security token offerings (STO) and distributed ledger technology (DLT). The news falls in line with efforts by Swiss regulators to further develop the country’s blockchain sector.
Bitcoin Halving Report
The Coindesk research team looks at the upcoming bitcoin halving: what it is, why it matters and what its impact on the sector and the bitcoin price could be in more detail, with over 30 charts and some in-depth miner commentary.
PwC Reports Huge Shift in Crypto Fundraising from US to Asia and EMEA
In 2019, crypto fundraising and M&As began migrating over to Asia, Europe and the Middle East and saw a lack of new VC investments as the majority of funding came from crypto firms within the industry. All this is according to PwC’s latest report released today.
The report outlines how the majority of global crypto fundraising and M&A deals in 2019 took place outside of the United States with increased activity in both APAC (29%) and EMEA (22%) recorded. In 2019, it was found that traditional VCs, crypto-focused VCs and family offices represented the majority source of new funding, with a share of 57%, for crypto companies. These new findings mean that crypto firms now represent the majority of M&A in the sector which is an increase compared to 2018’s 42%.
Unconfirmed Podcast: Coronavirus Relief and its Impact on the Crypto Markets
Kevin Kelly, macro strategist at Delphi Digital, discusses how coronavirus’s impact on the economy will affect bitcoin and the crypto market, including the ripple effects of the US fiscal stimulus package and historically high jobless claims. He explains how bitcoin compares to traditional financial assets, what the recent bitcoin price action says about the theory that bitcoin serves as a macro hedge, and why it looks like newer buyers, rather than long-term holders, have been selling bitcoin in recent weeks.
