Weekly Insights #32
May 24: The crypto market is currently crisscrossed with positive as well as negative news. Positive news is focused primarily around fundamental developments in various crypto projects and their expanding adoption, while negative news is mostly comprised of the usual trinity: tether drama, dubious projects, and crypto exchange malfunctions.
“Some people think it’s crazy to invest in crypto. Maybe. But definitely not as crazy as sitting on the sidelines when the future of money is literally being built before your eyes.” — Cameron Winklevoss
NOTEWORTHY NEWS
FINRA Approves Grayscale Ethereum Trust for Retail — May 23, The Block
Grayscale by Digital Currency Group manages $1.9B in a number of funds with underlying crypto assets, but the funds are only available to accredited investors. The company has gained approval from FINRA to list eligible shares of its Grayscale Ethereum Trust on OTC markets, making it the first publicly listed security tied to ether.
Coinbase Now Supports Another Stablecoin, Dai — May 23, Coinbase Blog
DAI is a decentralized stablecoin running on Ethereum that was designed with the goal of maintaining a target value of approximately US$1.00. Starting yesterday, Coinbase.com and the Coinbase Android and iOS apps added support for Dai (DAI) trading. DAI will be available for customers in most jurisdictions, but will not initially be available to residents of the state of New York.
SIX Stock Exchange is Working on a Swiss Franc Stablecoin — May 22, Coindesk
Swiss stock exchange SIX, which is a developing blockchain-based asset settlement and tokenization solution, is now working on a fiat-backed Swiss franc stablecoin. It is not clear whether the stablecoin will be used inside their blockchain system or be issued on a general public blockchain and transferred freely.
Tether Admits to Investing Some of Its Reserves in Bitcoin — May 21, The Block
According to a court transcript obtained by The Block from the ongoing Bitfinex/Tether vs. NYAG case, David Miller, an attorney for Bitfinex, said that Tether used its reserves to buy bitcoin. While there is no information regarding the size of the bitcoin position, Bitfinex CTO Paolo Ardoino tweeted that Tether owned a small amount of bitcoin for paying miner fees.
MARKET OVERVIEW & METRICS
Weekly Crypto Stats
- Global network value is $246.6B, with a 7% weekly delta.
- Global crypto market turnover is $72.66B, 29% from ATH.
- Real 10 market turnover was $2.33B, -60.7% weekly delta.
- Bitcoin dominance is 56.8%, with 0.9% weekly delta, beta 0.85.
- Ethereum dominance is 10.68% with 4.91% weekly delta, beta 1.27.
- Bitcoin hashrate is 52.66B TH/s, with 8.26% weekly delta.
- Ethereum hashrate is 160.31K GH/s, with -4.66% weekly delta.
CHART OF THE WEEK
China has devalued and revalued the yuan multiple times since the early 1980s, and this fact is not lost on the population. The People’s Bank of China (PBOC) has kept the yuan relatively stable since early 2017. They even made moves to tighten credit conditions. However, the trade war changed all that, and now they are printing money like it’s 2008. That pressure will build around the exchange rate, and at some point, either the PBOC will tighten credit, slowing GDP growth, or it will devalue the yuan. Chinese asset holders are not stupid. They see the writing on the wall, and while the CNY recently crept higher towards the magical 7.00, BTC exited the doldrums and more than doubled in price.
This content has been put together by Marko Štemberger and Tilen Držan. Feel free to contact us for any feedback or if you have questions. Information provided above is not to be considered as an investment advice.
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