CBX Weekly Newsletter // 18 March 2020
- Bitcoin Price Update
- Coinbase’s employee to work for the U.S. Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC).
- Opera opens up crypto as a way of payment within the app
Bitcoin Price Update
It’s been an active trading week so far for any tradeable asset in the market.
US stocks, Gold, Treasuries, Oil, and Bitcoin had been trading down following an extraordinary correlation.
Even with the central bank’s drastic measures, taken to offset possible effects of the coronavirus on the global economy, Bitcoin has slashed a third of its price in less than a week, reaching a new low for this year at $3,900.
After hovering in the $4,600 to $5,900 range for a few days it seems like Bitcoin is finding support at around the $5,000 level.
Who’s Seeling?
According to an article from coindesk.com, institutions unload bitcoin (BTC) along with stocks as part of the coronavirus-driven global sell-off, cryptocurrency’s traditional base — retail investors — is doing most of the buying, market participants said.
Likewise, one over-the-counter (OTC) trader in Latin America, who provides liquidity to several of the world’s leading crypto exchanges, said his desk has seen “two to three times” the normal buy orders since the price dropped dramatically on Thursday.
Altcoins
Other currencies like Ethereum (ETH), and Litecoin (LTC) have lost over 40% of their value from last week which begs the question of cryptocurrencies being a safe haven for a store of value. So far cryptocurrencies have performed like risk-on assets rather than risk-off following the performance of major financial instruments.
Coinbase’s employee to work for the U.S. Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC).
Brian Brooks, Chief Legal Officer of Coinbase, will leave the company to become the second in command at the U.S. Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC).
Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin designated Brooks as the new deputy effective April 1, 2020. Brooks, a former Fannie Mae executive vice president, general counsel and corporate secretary, has served as a chief legal officer at Coinbase since September 2018.
Mnuchin said in a statement he looks forward to working with Brooks to ensure “the stability of our financial system.”
The OCC is responsible for supervising and regulating national banks and financial institutions within the U.S. Established in 1863, the independent entity ensures banks are meeting capital and risk requirements.
Opera opens up crypto as a way of payment within the app
The Opera browser app has partnered with e-payments startup Wyre to expand its built-in wallet’s crypto buying power, the Norwegian web developer announced Tuesday.
In a deal that primarily caters to mobile crypto buyers in the U.S., the Opera-Wyre partnership brings Apple Pay functionality to iOS and debit card integration to Android. It lets users of either system purchase up to $250 in Bitcoin (BTC) or Ethereum (ETH) daily.
Opera had previously rolled out these features in its native Scandinavia. It plans to introduce more crypto payment options in other countries as well.
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