BitDigest - Monday April 26, 2021
Bitcoin and ether lead crypto marketcap back following Thursday’s tax fears sell-off
Turkey plans to release details of its crypto regulations in 2 weeks
Digital yuan threat to China’s payment duopoly
The Headlines
Turkey to Release Detail of Crypto Regulations
According to the governor of Turkey’s central bank, the Ministry of Finance is working on crypto regulations and plans to provide some details within the next two weeks.
Seoul Seizes Crypto from Tax Delinquents
The metropolitan government of Seoul announced it has seized $22 million in cryptocurrencies from over 650 tax delinquents who attempted to hide their digital assets on domestic digital asset exchanges.
Second Turkish Exchange Collapses in Week
Turkish authorities are investing the second collapse of a digital exchange within a week as Vebitcoin announced it was halting operations.
Louisiana’s state House adopted a resolution praising bitcoin and encouraging state and local governments to utilize the increasingly popular cryptocurrency.
OCC Approves Paxos Bank Charter
The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) announced the preliminary conditional approval of the application to provide a bank charter to Paxos National Trust allowing it to establish a new banking operation under a national bank charter.
📈Crypto miner Bitfarms (TSX:BITF) announced the purchase of ≈2,500 bitcoin mining rigs with assistance from Foundry Digital, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Digital Currency Group, adding 1,465 to its Sherbrooke, PQ operation with another 1,000 rigs to be installed by November.
Bitwise to Become SEC Reporting COmpany
📈Bitwise Investments has filed a regulatory statement with the Securities and Exchange Commission to designate its Bitwise 10 Crypto Index Fund (OTCQX: BITW) as the first index-based crypto investment vehicle to become an SEC reporting company.
🅱️If accepted the lock-up period for the private place issuance will be reduced from the standard 12 months to 6.
SEC to Review Kryptoin Bitcoin ETF
📈The SEC published a notice that it intends to begin reviewing a third bitcoin ETF, the Kryptoin Bitcoin ETF Trust ahead of a potential public listing – the regulator has up to 240 days to make a decision.
3iQ CoinShares Ether ETF Up on First Day
📈A fourth ether ETF, the 3iQ CoinShares Ether ETF (TSX: ETHQ.U) has been listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange, gaining 4.4% on its first day of trading.
NYSE Files to List Valkyrie's Bitcoin ETF
📈The New York Stock Exchange has filed to list Valkyrie Digital Assets’ Bitcoin ETF signaling the start of a 45 day review period for the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Phillips Completes First NFT Auction
Phillips, the third of the large auction houses, completed its first NFT sale selling Replicator a copy machine inspired art work by Mad Dog Jones for $4.1 million.
Market Data
Bitcoin Hashrate Returns to New All Time High
One week after bitcoin’s hashrate declined 39%, falling below 100 Ehash/s for the first time since November 2020, bitcoin’s hashrate has jumped 76% to reach a new all-time-high of 172 Ehash/s – this equates to 172,000,000,000,000,000,000 (172 quintillion) attempts to solve for a new bitcoin block every second.
Exchange, Custody and Product News
Binance Listing MSTR, AAPL and MSFT
Binance announced that it plans to list three stock-token offerings on its exchange this week: MicroStrategy (MSTR), today, Apple (AAPL) on Wednesday, and Microsoft (MSFT) on Friday.
Thoughts on the Ecosystem
Digital Yuan Threat to Alipay WeChat Duopoly
China’s digital yuan first target is not the USD but Alipay and WeChat pay hinted an official from the People’s Bank of China who said that “people will realize that digital yuan payment is so convenient that [they] don’t have to rely on Alipay or WeChat Pay anymore.” Another banking official said that “big data is wealth. Whoever owns data thrives,” and “WeChat Pay and Alipay own an ocean of data,” so the e-CNY rollout facilitates China’s anti-trust campaign and helps the government control big data, he added possibly explaining another cause behind the government’s appeared takeover of Ant Financial, the parent of Alipay.
'No Connection Between Inflation and Bitcoin'
“Black Swan” author Nassim Nicholas Taleb, a long time crypto critic, says bitcoin has “characteristics of an open Ponzi,” explaining “it’s a beautifully set up cryptographic system. It’s well made but there’s absolutely no reason it should be linked to anything economic…[there is] no connection between inflation and bitcoin.”
Daily Cartoon
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BitDigest is a weekday news update on digital currencies and blockchain technology for friends and partners of Parsons & Whittemore, a single family office based in Rye Brook, New York. Receipt of BitDigest is by approval of the Author. The commentary, analysis, opinions and recommendations in this newsletter represent the personal and subjective views of the Author, and are subject to change at any time without notice. The information provided in this newsletter is obtained from sources which the Author believes to be reliable. However, the Author has not independently verified or otherwise investigated all such information. Neither the Author nor any of the Author's affiliates make any guarantee or other promise as to any results that may be obtained from reading this newsletter. While past performance may be analyzed in this newsletter, past performance should not be considered indicative of future performance. No reader should make any investment decision without first consulting his or her own financial advisor and conducting his or her own research and due diligence. The Author is not making a solicitation or offer to buy or sell any securities of any kind.