BitDigest - Monday May 3, 2021
ETH breaks $3,150 and bitcoin trades back above $58,500
Thailand to require in person KYC at digital currency exchanges
Switzerland is planning to test cross-border functionality of CBDC
Bank of England Sees the Light
An apparent bitcoin supporter in London projected the message that “bitcoin fixes this” across the Bank of England over the week. A similar message appeared on the Parliament building under Big Ben.
The Bank of England
The Headlines
Thailand to Require In Person KYC Scans at Crypto Exchanges
The government of Thailand is planning to require local digital currency exchanges to verify customer identities in person using a chip enabled identification card.
Switzerland Ready to Test Cross-Border Digital Currency
Switzerland’s central bank is planning its first digital currency test with another (unidentified) country and will “try some cross-border functionality” like it is live.
China Implements New Anti-Fraud Policies
China has implemented new ant-fraud rules to combat illegal fundraising which is expected to force a greater crackdown on perceived cryptocurrency scams.
Turkey Places Crypto Exchanges Under New AML Regulations
The Turkish government has updated the country’s cryptocurrency laws and has added crypto trading platforms to the list of entities covered by anti-money laundering (AML) and Combating the Financing of Terrorism (CFT) regulations.
📈Chinese miner Ebang International (NASDAQ: EBON) reported an 82% decrease in revenue to $19 million during the 2020 calendar year posting a net loss of $32 million.
Galaxy Providing Lending Solution to Hut 8
📈Hut 8 (TSX: HUT) has partner with Galaxy Digital (TSX: GLXY) to earn a 4% yield on 1,000 of the miner’s bitcoin. In addition, GLXY is providing a $20 million revolving credit facility.
Valkyrie Offers DOT Trust with Staking
📈Valkyrie Digital Assets is the latest investment manager to offer a Polkadot Trust and to differentiate itself, Valkyrie will offer an 8% staking yield on invested assets.
Ninepoint Turing Bitcoin Trust into ETF
📈Ninepoint Partners has received a receipt for its final prospectus to turn its close-ended bitcoin trust into an exchange traded fund on the Toronto Stock Exchange.
Crypto ETF Could be Coming to Australia
📈The Australian Securities Exchange is “spending an enormous amount of time” focused on digital assets and could launch Australia’s first crypto ETF by the end of the year.
Revolut Will Allow Customers to Transfer Crypto Off Exchange
Revolut is going to announce plans to start providing customers with the ability to transfer digital currencies out of their Revolut accounts, however in the beginning withdrawals will be limited to £1,000/month.
Mergers & Acquisitions
📈Coinbase (NASDAQ: COIN) is acquiring crypto and blockchain data analytics firm Skew to provide real-time actionable data to its clients.
Market Data
Bitcoin Difficulty Adjusts Down
Given the recent temporary safety shutdown by Chinese crypto miners at coal operations, it should be no surprise that bitcoin’s difficulty fell 12.6% over the weekend, the largest drop since November’s 16% decline and only the second time difficulty has adjusted down in 2021.
Thoughts on the Ecosystem
'Of Course I Hate the Bitcoin Success'
😱📈Berkshire Hathaway (NYSE: BRK.A) Vice Chairman Charlie Munger told shareholder’s at BRK’s annual meeting that he hates the success of bitcoin, calling “the whole damn development … disgusting and contrary to the interests of civilization.” Munger added that he does not “welcome a currency that’s so useful to kidnappers and extortionists and so forth, nor do I like just shuffling out of your extra billions of billions of dollars to somebody who just invented a new financial product out of thin air.”
BRK Chairman Warren Buffet avoided the crypto question stating that he did not want to get grief from everyone who is long.
UBS Chief Economist Is Confused by Interest in Bitcoin
😱The Chief Economist of UBS Global Wealth Management thinks “there is something weird about [the continued interest in] bitcoin” highlighting that “bitcoin has a history of extreme price fluctuations,” it is “increasingly destructive to the environment,” and it has “extraordinarily unequal ownership… [and] is denied to those minority groups who have reduced online access.”
Nothing with Crypto...Ever Turns Out Good
🐦📺Comedian Bill Maher compared cryptocurrencies to Peter Pan’s Tinkerbell, describing it as being “based solely on enough children believing in it.”
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.