BitDigest - Tuesday June 1, 2021
May comes to an end with $550 billion lost across crypto market cap
India’s Central Bank tells banks not to rely on its 2018 circular to block crypto banking services
Thailand responded to the sudden price collapse of a DeFi token by warning that tokens for DeFi platforms may require a license
Crypto Fear & Greed Index
The Fear & Greed Index for bitcoin and other large cryptocurrencies dropped 2 points this week staying in the ‘Extreme Fear’ range as crypto prices have failed to find resistance above $40,000 for bitcoin and $2,800 for ether over the past 7-days.
The Headlines
RBI Tells Banks Not to Reference 2018 Anti Crypto Banking Circular
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) issued a circular telling banks they may not caution customers from dealing in virtual assets by referring to a 2018 RBI circular due to a 2020 directive by India’s Supreme Court.
Thailand Threatens to Regulate DeFi Tokens
Thailand’s Securities and Exchange commission announced that decentralized finance (DeFi) projects involving the issuance of a digital token may require a license after the Tuktuk Finance token (TUK) rose to several hundred dollars and then collapsed to $1 within minutes.
Crypto Growth Will Drive Regulation
The governor of the Bank of Sweden says that continued growth in digital currencies will lead to regulatory oversight by central bankers explaining that “when something gets big enough, things like consumer interests and money laundering come into play…so there’s good reason to believe that [regulation] will happen.”
South Korea Defines Roles Covering Crypto Oversight
The government of South Korea announced lines of authority over virtual assets with the Financial Services Commission selected to establish regulations and oversee all virtual asset businesses, the Ministry of Science chosen to promote blockchain technology and prevent hacking ,and the police appointed to focus on crypto-focused crimes.
Crypto Assets Are a 'Speculative' Concern
The direct general for financial conduct at the Central Bank of Ireland reiterated cries by other central bankers in calling crypto assets “speculative” products that could allow people to “lose the whole” of their investments.
Treasury's 2022 Revenue Proposals Look to Target Crypto Activity
The Biden Administration released its 2022 Budget proposing that a comprehensive financial information reporting regime be established to include crypto brokers and custodians to combat offshore tax evasion.
Kyrgyzstan Security Agency Seizes Crypto Miners
Kyrgyzstan’s organized crime fighting agency seized 2,000 crypto mining rigs as part of a new offensive against illegal crypto mining.
SEC Files Charges Against BitConnect Promoters
The SEC filed charges alleging that promoters for BitConnect raised $2 billion by conducting an unregistered securities offering and sale through investments into BitConnect’s “lending program.”
Crypto Crime Increases During Covid Lockdown
The UKs National Crime Agency, a national law enforcement agency, reported that during the COVID-19 “lockdown, criminals found it increasingly difficult to move cash, so cryptoassets such as bitcoin have been used by many criminal groups to facilitate money laundering,” adding that cryptoassets were also used to facilitate transactions on dark web marketplaces.
www.nationalcrimeagency.gov.uk
Australian Taxation Office Plans to Remind Taxpayers of Obligations
The Australian Taxation Office issued a warning to investors who believe that cryptocurrency gains are tax free or only taxable when the holdings are cashed back into Australian dollars stating they expected to “prompt almost 300,000” tax payers to remind them of their legal obligations.
EIB Sees Blockchain and AI Investment Shortfall
The European Investment Bank announced that blockchain and AI investments across the 27-country bloc accounts for just €1.75 billion (7% of the total) compared to the €25 billion invested by the US and China.
TAAL Achieves Positive Income in Q1
📈Bitcoin SV miner TAAL Distributed Information Technologies (CSE:TAAL) reported $0.9 million in hashing revenue during the quarter ending March 31st resulting in income from operations of $0.2 million after recognized gains from the sale of digital assets.
Chinese Crackdown has No Impact on EBON
📈Ebang International Holdings (Nasdaq: EBON) issued a statement on the changes in the regulatory landscape in China explaining that the crackdown has no direct or immediate impact on the company’s mining or exchange businesses.
DBS Issuing STO on DBS Digital Exchange
Singaporean multinational bank DBS issued a ≈$11 million blockchain bond offering to support the company’s first Security Token Offering (STO) on the DBS Digital Exchange (DDEx).
Mt. Gox Creditors Can Now Vote on Rehabilitation Plan
The Japanese bankruptcy trustee overseeing Mt. Gox issued a notice that the voting system for creditors has been added to the online rehabilitation claim filing platform.
P8 for Bitcoin Car in Indy 500
🐦Last year’s IndyCar, Rookie of the Year, Rinus VeeKay led in 32 of 200 laps, but finished in 8th place in the Indianapolis 500 driving the Bitcoin car #21.
Sotheby's to Auction Alien CryptoPunk
🐦Sotheby’s auction house plans to sell Alien CryptoPunk #7523 during a standalone live auction as part of “Natively Digital: A Curated NFT Sale” on June 10th.
Market Data
Average Transaction Fees Fall to 5-Month Lows
Average transaction fees for bitcoin and ethereum have dropped to 5-month lows at $7.22 and $4.81 respectively signifying lower market activity as investors turn back to hodling.
Due to the most recent Chinese crypto mining crackdown, bitcoin’s hashrate has fallen causing BTC difficulty to drop 15.97% after jumping 21.5% at the last 2,016 block adjustment.
Thoughts on the Ecosystem
Richmond Fed Raises Concerns About Privately Issued Digital Currencies
The Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond published a note on the development of privately issued digital currency by companies like Diem, Amazon and Alibaba suggesting that central bankers should be concerned about platforms issuing a digital currency that circulates outside of the platform and competed with government-issued cash.
Digital Yuan Meant to Combat Private Payment Platforms
A former director of the People’s Bank of China said that the digital yuan is being developed to combat the competitive nature of privately-owned payment platforms like Alipay and not as a surveillance tool to track real-time consumer transactions.
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.