Weekly Wrap-Up: September 27th, 2019
By TheNews.asia on Altcoin Academy
Read the full weekly newsletter here.
This week, headlines were scattered across a number of different focuses, including digital asset exchanges, more stock market action with cryptocurrency, and regulations from a small Asian nation that routinely hits above its weight both economically and in blockchain development. Let’s dive into some of the biggest stories.
First one story long in development is seeing a new chapter come to a close. The appeal for the Bitfinex/Tether loan cover-up case has formally ended its discovery phase as the Appellate court of the Supreme Court of New York told Bitfinex they no longer need to supply documents. This could mean either that discovery has taken too long or that the prosecution has shared with the judge the evidence they need to move forward and have the appeal denied once and for all. It has been a pleasure following this one (since who doesn’t like a good caper?) but it has had deep implications for the fate of both Bitfinex and Tether.
Two more traditional stock market exchanges, NYSE and Boerse Stuttgart launched digital asset exchanges of their own, Bakkt and BDEX respectively. This confirms predictions that more traditional secondary market players would be joining in the race. That said, Bakkt’s opening volume was less than to be desired, clocking in at just 28 contracts in the first few hours. Some say that this is to be expected while others decry the lack of proper preparation from NYSE.
Also, a promising economic proposal from South Korea as the current dominant political party calls for regulation and legalization of ICO and IEO in a sort of ‘if you can’t beat them, join them’ attitude.
Bitfinex Out Of The Woods For Now…
This has been a developing story for quite some time. In short: Bitfinex had a ‘little’ liquidity problem for which they turned to Tether for a solution. Somewhat of a backroom deal, it would seem, since Bitfinex attempted to cover up the whole thing when official investigations began. Several applications for an end to the case and stays of information later, and attorneys for Bitfinex have finally gotten a bone to chew on as the Appellate division of the Supreme Court has ruled that Bitfinex no longer needs to hand over documents to the NYAG. Not out of the woods yet, but certainly given some breathing room.
Boerse Stuttgart Announces Launch Of Digital Assets DEX
Another stock exchange has launched a digital assets exchange, this time in Europe, named BDEX. Their press release outlines Boerse Stuttgart’s plans to create a complete end-to-end digital assets ecosystem, and of course, they are selling it by touting their own record of trustworthiness and reliability in the financial markets in Germany. A most unusual part of the press release is that they specifically state that trading is ‘almost 24 hours, seven days a week.’ It’s unclear how they would have traded on a digital exchange NOT be guaranteed 24 hours a day. It would be curious how the planning and available DD at BS compares to that of NASDAQ.
Upbit Ends Partnership With Bittrex
Upbit, South Korea’s largest cryptocurrency exchange, has been partnered with Bittrex since their launch in October 2017. This partnership allowed Upbit to share volume and trade books with Bitfinex, and what likely led to the exchange of getting a ‘BTI Verified’ rating on their trade volume early this year. Upbit announced this week they would be ending that partnership by allowing the contract to expire at the end of October. This would mean that Upbit’s genuine volume will be bare for all to see. It is also hinted at, albeit via conjecture, that they will be listing Klaytn, the enterprise project from Kakao and Ground X in South Korea and by Google. Look for this to make global headlines in the coming weeks.
Liberal Party Of Korea Wants To Legalize And Regulate ICO And IEO Starting Next Year
This week the liberal party of South Korea submitted a new economic proposal which called for the regulation of ICO and IEO. Frankly, the IEO part is far more interesting. The FSC in Korea has been hot on the heels of crypto exchanges and even a few ultra-scam ICO, but IEO is a new one. It begs the question of if there will be a state-run crypto exchange specifically for IEO if they are meant to be regulated properly? Granted, it is only a proposal at this point, one likely informed by the FSC activity, but this party is well known as being crypto-friendly, so it will be a fun ride watching how this economic proposal is edited to include crypto regulations in some way, shape, or form under the guidance of the new FSC Commissioner.
Bakkt Begins Trading Contracts
Bakkt had its auspicious launch this week amidst a great deal of…. Low volume. Realistically it’s hard for any exchange to have the genuine high volume on week one, as we know from the BTI report earlier this year, but 71 futures contracts seems a bit low. There are also rumors abound that most of the volume on the exchange was from Bakkt employees or even NYSE employees themselves. That wouldn’t technically be unreal volume, but it isn’t the same as Chad and Arthur pining over charts to choose the right entries and leverage.
