Digital assets

OCC Grants Crypto Firm Paxos ‘Conditional Approval’ for US Bank Charter

24/04/2021 by Idelto Editor

The digital currency and stablecoin issuer Paxos has been granted conditional approval for a bank charter under the Paxos National Trust in New York. The U.S. Office of the Comptroller of the Currency issued a preliminary conditional approval which means the regulating entity still has to authorize the firm’s future banking plans.

Paxos Granted Preliminary Conditional Approval for a US Bank Charter

The New York-based financial institution and technology company Paxos has been granted preliminary conditional approval for a bank charter by the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC). The OCC published information on the conditional approval on April 23, 2021, showing authorization of the company’s application to charter the Paxos National Trust.

“The OCC granted a national trust bank charter to Paxos after [a] thorough review of the company and its current operations,” the OCC’s press release notes. “In granting this charter, the OCC applied the same rigorous review and standards applied to all charter applications. The OCC granted preliminary conditional approval to Paxos after [a] thorough review of its application.”

Paxos was founded in 2012 in New York City, but the company also has offices in Singapore and London as well. At the end of December 2020, documents show that Paxos has raised roughly $240 million in financing since the company’s inception. Paxos is also known for issuing a stablecoin based on the value of the U.S. dollar and a token backed by the precious metal gold as well. The preliminary approval status aims to provide Paxos the authority to exercise fiduciary powers under 12 USC 92a and 12 CFR 5.26.

Paxos National Trust Must Obtain the Regulator’s Final Approval

Paxos General Counsel Dan Burstein is addressed in the OCC’s preliminary approval letter. The OCC’s letter stresses that the regulating entity plans to process background checks and other reviews of the Paxos’ executive staff.

“Accordingly, the continued service of these individuals will be dependent on satisfactory completion of the background investigation process,” the OCC letter states.

“Prior to the Bank’s opening,” the OCC’s approval letter concludes. “The bank must obtain the OCC’s prior written determination of no objection for any additional organizers or executive officers or directors appointed or elected before the person assumes the position.” Further, if the OCC finds any issues it can modify, suspend, and rescind the preliminary conditions if any material information changes before the OCC’s final decision.

What do you think about Paxos getting conditional approval for a bank charter in the U.S.? Let us know what you think about this subject in the comments section below.

US House Passes Bill Mandating SEC and CFTC to Establish Working Group Focused on Digital Assets

22/04/2021 by Idelto Editor

The U.S. House of Representatives has passed a crypto-related bill introduced by pro-bitcoin Congressman Patrick McHenry. It requires the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) to establish a working group focused on digital assets.

Bill to ‘Ensure Collaboration Between Regulators and Private Sector’ on Cryptocurrency

The U.S. House of Representatives passed several bipartisan bills on Tuesday, including H.R. 1602, introduced by pro-bitcoin Congressman Patrick McHenry, the Republican leader of the House Financial Services Committee.

H.R. 1602, entitled “Eliminate Barriers to Innovation Act of 2021,” will “establish a digital asset working group to ensure collaboration between regulators and the private sector to foster innovation,” the committee described.

McHenry explained:

[This bill] requires the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission to establish a working group focused on digital assets. This is the first step in opening up the dialogue between our regulators and market participants and move to needed clarity.

The bill states that the working group shall be established no later than 90 days after the date of its enactment.

In addition, the bill requires that the members of the working group include at least one representative from fintech companies that provide digital asset products or services, financial firms regulated by the SEC or CFTC, institutions engaged in academic research or advocacy relating to digital asset use, small fintech businesses, investor protection organizations, and institutions that support investment in historically-underserved businesses.

The working group shall submit a report no later than one year after the enactment of the bill to the SEC, the CFTC, and the relevant committees, the bill notes.

The report must contain regulatory analysis and recommendations related to the laws and regulations under the jurisdiction of the SEC or the CFTC. The recommendations are “for the creation, maintenance, and improvement of primary and secondary markets in digital assets, including for improving the fairness, orderliness, integrity, efficiency, transparency, availability, and efficacy of such markets.” They must also cover the “standards concerning custody, private key management, cybersecurity, and business continuity relating to digital asset intermediaries.” The bill, which now heads to the Senate, can be found here.

What do you think about this bill? Let us know in the comments section below.

Bank of England and HM Treasury Launch a Central Bank Digital Currency Taskforce

19/04/2021 by Idelto Editor

Her Majesty’s Treasury and the Bank of England have revealed the establishment of a central bank digital currency (CBDC) taskforce. According to the announcement, the group’s purpose aims to explore a potential UK CBDC.

UK Entities Invoke a CBDC Taskforce to Explore a Central Bank-Issued Digital Currency

Central bank digital currencies (CBDCs) have been popping up throughout a number of countries and most are still in the exploration phase. A few countries like Venezuela, Sweden, and China are ahead of the game by a longshot in comparison to countries like the U.S., Canada, and the United Kingdom. On Monday, the HM Treasury and the Bank of England (BoE) published an announcement indicating that it plans to join the CBDC race.

The two UK entities have established a CBDC taskforce as the Exchequer says the group will be dedicated to “the exploration of a potential UK CBDC.” The press release wants the public to know that bureaucrats and the BoE have “not yet made a decision on whether to introduce a CBDC in the UK.” However, the taskforce is meant to strategically approach the idea and “promote close coordination” between officials exploring a UK-based CBDC.

The CBDC taskforce will be co-chaired by Jon Cunliffe the Deputy Governor of the Bank of England and Katharine Braddick the HM Treasury’s Director General of Financial Services. “Full membership of the taskforce will be limited to relevant individuals from the Bank of England and HM Treasury,” the announcement details. “Other UK authorities will be involved in the taskforce’s work on CBDC as appropriate, and will be invited to meetings when relevant. The Bank of England and HM Treasury will jointly provide secretariat duties,” the Exchequer’s announcement notes.

A CBDC Will ‘Secure the UK’s Title as a World Leader for Fintech Innovation’

In a note to Bitcoin.com News, Jorge Lesmes, Global Head of Blockchain Banking Practice at Everis believes the HM Treasury’s and BoE’s recent announcement is positive. “The UK is a world leader for fintech, and the implementation of a Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) would help secure this title,” Lesmes explained. “With the Covid-19 pandemic accelerating our transition away from physical fiat and enhancing the customer appetite for convenient, tech-driven access to financial services and digital payments, the introduction of a CBDC would be key in meeting these shifting consumer demands,” he added.

The Everis executive continued:

However, the first stage of implementation is likely to arrive with commercial banking, for interbank settlements, before retail banks benefit from the uses of a digital currency. Of course, the introduction of a CBDC will not come without its risks. For this partnership to succeed, the newly established taskforce must examine how the UK government will work alongside the Bank of England, to ensure that all potential risks have been considered and that the correct regulation is in place to eliminate threats and maintain value.

Members of the HM Treasury and BoE effort plan to evaluate design features to achieve specific goals. The CBDC will need “rigorous, coherent and comprehensive assessment,” the Treasury insists. Both entities will also participate in engaging with CBDC stakeholders. Furthermore, the organizations will monitor the CBDC developments in order to make sure the UK “remains at the forefront of global innovation.”

What do you think about the HM Treasury and BoE effort introducing a CBDC taskforce for the UK? Let us know what you think about this subject in the comments section below.

Crypto Markets Lose Hot Air, DOGE and BCH Skyrocket, 46% Chance ETH Hits $2,600 by May

16/04/2021 by Idelto Editor

Digital currency markets have seen some slight losses on Friday morning, as a great number of cryptocurrencies saw significant gains the day prior. Bitcoin dropped to a low of $60,042 during the early morning trading sessions shedding 3% during the last 24 hours.

Crypto Markets Shed Some Value After Heating Up the Day Prior

Bitcoin (BTC) has dropped in value during the most recent trading sessions, as the price per BTC slid from $63,299 to $60,042 losing 5% in value. However, the price rebounded a hair and currently, BTC is exchanging hands between $60,900 to $61,100 per unit.

BTC is still up 3.86% today and 2.52% for the month. The second-largest market cap is ethereum (ETH) today and each coin is swapping for $2,374 per unit. ETH touched a high during Thursday evening’s trading sessions at $2,532 per ether.

Binance coin (BNB) is down over 5% today, as it was trading for $542 per unit last night and today it is swapping for $522. XRP has seen phenomenal gains during the last 48 hours and on April 14, XRP touched $1.94 per unit. Currently, XRP has lost some of those gains and each coin is swapping for $1.57 per coin. Cardano (ADA) is down more than 3% today and each ADA is trading for $1.39 per token.

The last contenders in the leading pack of top-ten cryptos include polkadot (DOT) at $41.40, dogecoin (DOGE) at $0.30, uniswap (UNI) at $35.92, and bitcoin cash (BCH) is $894 per unit. Both dogecoin and bitcoin cash (BCH) have seen significant 24-hour gains as DOGE is still up 130.58% and touching new highs. BCH is up 7.45% and touched a high of $954 last night across global exchanges. At the time of publication, bitcoin cash is trading for $874 per coin and has a $16.98 billion market valuation.

Bitcoin Commands a Touch More Than Half of the and the $2.1 Trillion, Rest of the Market Is 9,261 Cryptocurrencies

During the evening trading sessions last night, crypto values were up quite a bit in value. The entire cryptocurrency market cap even surpassed the valuation of Apple (AAPL $2.258T). However, on Friday the crypto economy rests just below AAPL at $2.147T after a number of coins shed some value. Anton Chashchin, managing partner at Cex.io Prime Trading says that the crypto economy’s rising value shows how powerful these new assets can be.

“Developments like this mean that cryptocurrencies have become a full-blown investment asset class,” Chashchin said. “More and more we are seeing corporate, institutional, and high net worth investors moving towards crypto as a highly lucrative alternative investment opportunity. The increase in these savvy investors looking for reliable partners will only seek to further legitimise the industry and strengthen the market.”

Crypto Derivatives Markets Indicate Some Movements Going Forward

Yesterday, Pankaj Balani, CEO of Delta Exchange told Bitcoin.com News that there is a 40% chance BTC prices could tap $70k by the end of May in our update after Mike Novogratz warned of a crypto market “washout.” Speaking with Balani again on Friday, the derivatives exchange CEO explained the method behind his predictions and touched upon ETH prices as well.

“The options market is pricing in a 40% chance of $70k and 31% of $58k by the end of May,” Balani wrote. “Post the recent spike in bitcoin, the shorter-dated implied volatility (April, May) has started to trade higher and is only a tad bit short of that of June and September expiries. The market seems to be factoring in a big move here and we can expect the realized volatility to grind higher further,” the exchange executive added.

Pankaj Balani also gave his perspective on ethereum (ETH) prices by looking at the data from this week’s derivatives market action.

“The options market is pricing ETH at $2,600 with 46% probability and at $2,100 with a 29% probability for the month of May,” Balani told Bitcoin.com News. “Most traded contracts today are the $2,300 and $2,200 calls. There is a lot of demand to add to upside calls on Ether for the short to medium term. Realized volatility has caught up to implied volatility and the skew of calls over puts remains high,” he added.

What do you think about the crypto market action on Friday? Let us know what you think about this subject in the comments section below.

Goldman Sachs to Offer ‘Full Spectrum’ of Bitcoin Investments

31/03/2021 by Idelto Editor

Goldman Sachs has revealed that it will be offering bitcoin investments to its wealth management clients. The investment bank reportedly plans to offer a “full spectrum” of bitcoin investments, “whether that’s through the physical bitcoin, derivatives or traditional investment vehicles.”

Goldman Sachs to Begin Offering Bitcoin Investments to Wealthy Clients

Goldman Sachs is the second major bank to say that it will be offering its wealthy clients access to bitcoin investments. CNBC reported on Wednesday that the bank is close to offering its first investment vehicles for bitcoin to clients of its private wealth management group.

Mary Rich, who was recently named global head of digital assets for Goldman’s private wealth management division, explained that the bank aims to start offering bitcoin investments in the second quarter. She said in an interview last week, “We are working closely with teams across the firm to explore ways to offer thoughtful and appropriate access to the ecosystem for private wealth clients, and that is something we expect to offer in the near term.”

Rich revealed that Goldman Sachs is looking to ultimately offer a “full spectrum” of investments in bitcoin, “whether that’s through the physical bitcoin, derivatives or traditional investment vehicles,” the publication conveyed. She was quoted as saying:

There’s a contingent of clients who are looking to this asset as a hedge against inflation, and the macro backdrop over the past year has certainly played into that … There are also a large contingent of clients who feel like we’re sitting at the dawn of a new Internet in some ways and are looking for ways to participate in this space.

Earlier this month, Morgan Stanley revealed that it will start offering its wealth management clients access to three bitcoin funds, becoming the first major bank to do so. Beside Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley, other big banks have yet to make bitcoin available to wealthy clients. Goldman’s private wealth management business mostly targets individuals, families, and endowments with at least $25 million in investable assets.

According to Rich, Goldman Sachs may offer its clients access to bitcoin investment funds, similar to how Morgan Stanley is set up to do. In addition, she said the firm is also looking to offer clients other ways to invest that are “more akin to the underlying asset class which trades 24-7 globally.” The global head of digital assets noted that some cryptocurrency investment funds can only be sold or bought once per quarter. She concluded:

We’re still in the very nascent stages of this ecosystem; no one knows exactly how it will evolve or what shape it will be … But I think it’s fairly safe to expect it will be part of our future.

Goldman Sachs brought back its bitcoin trading desk early this month and said that it sees high institutional demand for BTC.

What do you think about Goldman Sachs offering bitcoin investments to wealthy clients? Let us know in the comments section below.