CRYPTO RECAP WEEKLY DIGEST — 27/07/2020

Industry’s highlights from the past week

July 27th, 2020 Malta

Crypto is more than a trend. It’s the lifestyle and the universe of its own that gains more members and traction daily. In a world overloaded with information and digital noise, the approach to news in the crypto and blockchain field has to be re-imagined. As the #1 EURO stablecoin issuer on the market, our team is aimed to provide a smart and transparent view on the modern crypto industry, with its projects, market trends, regulations, and controversial news.

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Another week flourished in a blink of an eye amid the raging summer. Time to check up what happened during the last week in blockchain & crypto. Buckle up and dive straight in!

The projects

• Global recognition of stablecoins is on the way as one of the most prominent events in the crypto field took place this week — the World Stablecoin Association was launched in Switzerland by VirgoX and blockchain capital markets firm GDA Capital. Based in Geneva, the WSA’s ultimate goal is to build a true, unbiased global association composed of all major stablecoin projects, as stated by VirgoX CEO, CAI.
• The time of doubt whether the crypto is a bubble or not seems to be over as giants step into this game big time. PayPal aims to set up a partnership with Paxos. It was reported on Monday that one of the major digital payments market players plans to introduce crypto trading through a stablecoin issuer’s new brokerage service. Still, it’s unclear which crypto assets will be supported though.
• Next in line, one of the world’s largest payment providers MasterCard had authorized Wirex to issue payment cards, stating that it has become the first native crypto company to be able to issue payment cards to its customers directly.
• The ICO fever era went to oblivion ages ago, but blockchain projects continue to attract millions of dollars in funding. The last week was marked by staggering funding (judging from the 2020 perspective of course) of 42 million which Avalanche managed to gather in just 45 hours! Quite an example to many other projects in the field.
• Simplification of access to crypto already shows great results. Opera’s web browser is reported to slowly but steadily amass a following among those advocating for a decentralized internet, with 170,000 users now engaging with its built-in Ethereum, Tron, and Bitcoin wallets monthly.

The market trends

• No spaceships to the moon or another breakthrough? The Bitcoin was steadily trading in the 9k corridor this week. Neither the highly-expected May halving nor the constantly increasing institutional involvement seemed to change that in the short term perspective. However, the good news took place on Wednesday, July 23rd, as the Bitcoin price surged 5% to $9,664 in less than 24-hours. On Sunday 26th, the $10.000 milestone was surpassed for the first time since June. This drastic increase is mainly contributed to the announcement made by the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency — U.S. banks are now allowed to work with crypto custody services. This vital sign was recognized positively by the community as it has opened the doors for banks to enter the cryptocurrency market and provide their clients with tools to invest in cryptocurrencies.
• Crypto is not for geeks, and stablecoins is no more a niche segment. The explosive growth of this area started in 2020 and continues onwards. Stablecoin supply doubled to 12 billion following a 50% cryptocurrency market price drop earlier. At the same time, ETORO quarterly report outlined that stablecoins found a mainstream use case in 2020, which also contributes to the are growth. Meanwhile, Tether has reached $10 billion in market capitalization and is set to accumulate more. Quite a success for the project which has never been audited — nobody knows what Tether is collateralized with currently — is it cash or crypto, and in what proportions, and how much is accessible to them now.
• As of weeks end, both #1 crypto assets and altcoins continue to rise in price, with Ethereum overcoming the $300 milestone. The total market capitalization of Bitcoin and Altcoins returned to levels above $ 300 billion as of the night on July 26th. These indicators were recorded in mid-February this year the last time. One of the key factors for rising demand in Ethereum is a boom in the DeFi sector.
• DeFi is the new black of crypto. It was predicted to be some time ago, and the trend continues. The DeFi p2p lending market grew over seven times in 2019! If we consider specific signs during the way of the global cryptocurrency adoption, the 2019–2020 period could definitely be called the years of DeFi advent. Many global investment companies have already recognized the prominent potential of crypto lending in DeFi. The firstcomers have stepped upon many mistakes, which can now be avoided to craft a better solution with smoother user experience and better usability, taking into regard the negative experience of the firstcomers. Institutional investors are turning attention to Decentralized Finance, and the amount of money poured into decentralized finance is truly astronomic. The last week saw a $3 Billion milestone reached, but this field is aimed for the next record. DeFi grows insanely fast, and it’s of crucial importance to have a simple, effective, and inexpensive on and off-ramp solution for this segment. The current leaders of this field are Maker, Aave, and Compound.
• India seems to lead the P2P volume records among emerging markets as the country comprises the most robust market to post a new record for trade activity, with $3.4 million worth of BTC trading hands over the past seven days.
• At the same time, the popularity of crypto in another world country suggests that previous evaluations have been severely wrong. The Statista’s survey conducted in the first half of 2019 across 18 countries via online polls with 1,000 respondents per country, had crowned Turkey as a global leader in crypto adoption. Current reality shows a very different picture. The new survey from Paribu, released on July 23, draws a sharp contrast with previous global reports by claiming that crypto usage among Turkish people is actually less than 1%, and they rarely heard about BTC! Akademetre Research Company conducted the survey itself on behalf of Paribu, and the results have been made public in the Cryptocurrency Awareness and Perception Survey report.
• Institution’s attitude toward crypto and stablecoins changed after its benefits over traditional finance started to emerge in the wake of the upcoming financial crisis. In the second quarter of this year, Grayscale stated about $905.8 million of inflows to its cryptocurrency products. The company that operates the Grayscale Bitcoin Trust recorded $1.4 billion in total inflow over the first half a year, which shows institutional demand is surging rapidly.
• The current viability of central bank digital currencies has been once more questioned in the Eastern Europe area as Czech Central Bank Board members criticized CBDCs by defining it as ‘Helicopter Money’. With so many discussions about this model in place, little wonder that CBDC questions in Europe are all talk but no walk.

The controversial

• Summer craziness is continuing with a set of various unwelcoming events. The week before was plagued by a Twitter hack, which is among the most groundbreaking events lately. The exposed vulnerability can have a more sinister aftermath than thought before. Reuters recently revealed that a few former employees shed light on just how vulnerable Twitter’s security was — and may still be revealed that more than 1,000 Twitter employees and contractors had access to the internal admin panel that enabled the access of 130 high profile accounts. However, challenges only incentivize the seek for a better solution. The fragility of modern social media platforms can be dealt with — and blockchain can help here as such initiatives already discussed. Will it be the dawn of social media as we know it or we’re about to experience new developments that can enhance the experience and solve current issues? The game only starts.
• Meanwhile, Youtube continues it’s Holy Crusade on cryptomarket. The latest news suggests that media giants further strikers newcomers in this area and crypto review videos. What now? Lawyers for the video-sharing platform argue that because Ripple impersonators were third-parties it has no liability. Scammers have impersonated a number of figures in technology and finance in their attempts to cheat the possible subscribers and get their crypto assets. A similar case took place back in June with fake Bitcoin (BTC) giveaways from channels claiming to belong to SpaceX or Elon Musk scammed users out of as much as $150,000. The era of fraud prospers.
• Following Twitter’s disaster, the second action lawsuit against Plaid has been filed citing the company violated user data privacy. The last one was filed on behalf of four new plaintiffs alleged that Plaid (which was bought by Visa for $5.3 billion earlier this year) collected information on over 200 million distinct financial accounts who use services such as Venmo, Coinbase, Square’s Cash App and Stripe. The complaint states that service obtained “direct and full access to consumers’ personal financial banking information for Plaid’s own commercial purposes wholly unrelated to the consumers’ use of the apps.
• Another Great Escape took place in Japan last year, but the details have been unraveled only recently. Pretty much the Hollywood plot, the $500K in Bitcoin was paid to arrange ex-Nissan CEO’s escape. The case is quite similar to that of Mark Karpeles’, the former CEO of the defunct crypto exchange Mt Gox. After two spoke in person, the whole plan has been reportedly executed, a conversation that may have influenced his decision to flee Japan. Long story short, Ghosn was free to visit the nearby Grand Hyatt hotel, where he met the Taylors. He was then able to take public transportation from Tokyo to Osaka, where the larger musical instrument case — with Ghosn inside — was loaded onto a private jet bound for Istanbul before taking a second plane to Beirut. The extraction team received half a million dollars worth of crypto.

The legal

• With China spearheading the cryptocurrency banking sector with it’s Digital Yuan Pilot, Thailand seems to get on the CBDC bandwagon earlier than other countries. Rumor has it that the state already utilizes CBDC solutions: a senior figure at the Bank of Thailand (BOT) has confirmed the bank is using it for transactions with some businesses.
• Meanwhile, the U.S. office made a major effort not to miss out on crypto as it’s Treasury office greenlighted crypto custody at federally chartered banks. The latest decision seems to be a significant way of institutionalizing crypto assets. In the face of increasing consumer demand, banks had been able to deny that they could handle custody of crypto assets while shunting responsibility onto the regulator. While it doesn’t require that all the banks provide custody services, it authorizes them to do so, opening a gateway to the crypto world.
• While some nations are researching and capitalizing on blockchain and crypto-benefits, once highly-prayed enclaves for crypto change their course drastically. Back in September 2018, Malta’s then-Prime Minister Joseph Muscat presented his country as a “blockchain island” at the United Nations General Assembly. Later, the official rhetoric started to become less focused on blockchain and crypto, while Muscat himself had to step down due to a local political crisis at the end of last year, which led to a cabinet reshuffle. The Maltese government is continuing to break away from its once-prominent initiatives as it intends to take a more holistic approach toward digital economy development. Kearon Bruno, chairman of Digital Economy Think Tank, an advisory body tasked with diversifying and consolidating Malta’s economic portfolio, states that Malta now favors an “overarching vision” for its digital economy strategy. The think tank, which was formed in June 2020, includes representatives from gaming, financial services, and information sectors.
• At the same time, more countries are joining the crypto club as long-delayed laws are accepted. Last week, Russia officially passed a crypto bill that finally provided legal status to crypto but did not allow it to be used as a payment method.
• Meanwhile, Japanese Banks are pursuing the idea of local CBDC to launch digital currency in late 2020. One of the most tech advanced countries tries not to fall back in crypto.
• The South Korean government has announced a 20% tax rate for income generated from cryptocurrency trading. Following a Tax Development Review Committee meeting on July 22, the Ministry of Economy and Finance published its revised tax code detailing the new rules.

Gearing up for more

And that’s all for today. Another week is behind, more exciting news ahead! Subscribe to our Medium channel, join STASIS in Telegram, Facebook, and Twitter to stay tuned in the most exciting market insights — and see you next week!