Alright, Alright, Alright BTC!
Happy New Year Delta Squad!
Have you come up with your 2024 resolutions yet? (One of them better be BitDelta related ??).
Just when we thought 2024 would bring in a fresh breeze to the markets, BTC struck with a significant dip… Matrixport analysts, if we were you, we would better be hiding somewhere…?
Starting The Year with a Bang?
Before expanding on these stories, let's check out the market weather at BitDelta Exchange ??
Market Weather on BitDelta Exchange?
South Korea Vs. Crypto
Financial regulators in South Korea are making proposals to change the country’s credit finance laws to prohibit local citizens from purchasing cryptocurrency with credit cards.
This week, the country’s Financial Services Commission (FSC) pointed out pressing concerns about illegal outflows and money laundering that could come with South Korean citizens buying cryptocurrency from foreign exchanges.
The FSC stated that major concerns have been raised about the illegal outflow of domestic funds overseas due to card payments on overseas virtual asset exchanges, money laundering, speculation, and the encouragement of speculative activities.
Cryptocurrency exchanges in South Korea are only allowed to accept transactions between virtual assets through deposit and withdrawal accounts where the user’s identity can be verified. However, these rules do not apply to foreign crypto exchanges.
The financial services regulators in S.K. are now seeking public input on the proposal. The proposal is expected to go through a review and resolution process and aims to be implemented in the first half of 2024.
Grayscale in talks with JPMorgan and Goldman Sachs
This week, Grayscale Investments went into talks with JPMorgan and Goldman Sachs. This meeting was centred on the potential role it plans to hold in its proposed spot Bitcoin ETF.
According to Bloomberg reports, Grayscale filed an amended S-3 application with the United States SEC but didn’t list any authorised participants.
However, reports earlier on suggest that Goldman Sachs was already in discussion with BlackRock to act as an authorised participant for its ETF. According to reports, up to 14 asset managers are looking to issue a spot Bitcoin ETF once approved. This will provide institutional investors with direct and regulated exposure to Bitcoin in the U.S.
It is important to know that BlackRock previously amended its S-1 filing to name quantitative trading firm Jane Street and JPMorgan as authorised participants in its proposed ETF. ETF applicants aren’t required to name authorised participants in their S-1 or S-3 filings, meaning that other financial firms could still come on board.
While JPMorgan has been named as an authorised participant for several proposed spot Bitcoin ETFs, Goldman Sachs plans to join other Wall Street giants, including Cantor Fitzgerald and Jane Street, which have been given an authorised participant role for other ETF issuers.
Although the spot Bitcoin ETF is yet to be approved in the U.S., ETF analysts predict they are looking at this approval happening by 90% before the 10th of Jan.
Approval Imminent or Rejected??
If BTC’s New Year’s resolution was to keep everyone on their toes… let's say, it definitely worked.
Crypto markets tumbled over the week, showing signs of weakness on the first few days of the new year. The total crypto market cap went down as much as 12%, its largest single-day decline since the FTX collapse back in November 2022
领英推荐
The price dip witnessed comes as the crypto market braces for the SEC’s decision on whether or not ETFs will be approved in the upcoming days.
Matrixport (a crypto financial services platform) published a report about Bitcoin ETFs earlier this week with the following headline “Bitcoin Spot ETF approval imminent, BTC to jump to $50,000”.?
A day later, they published another report - and that’s when it all went downhill.???
All it took was ONE report published by Matrixport under the name of “Why the SEC will REJECT Bitcoin Spot ETFs again” to send the markets into a state of panic.
From “approval imminent” to “REJECTED” within the span of 24 hours… Can you believe it? No sources, and no proof - just one analyst’s opinion was enough to send FUD through the crypto markets.?
All we can say is that this particular drop in BTC is not helping us calm the highly volatile nature narrative of digital assets any time soon.
China - 0, Hong Kong - 1
On Dec 29th, the Chinese authorities made moves to stop the use of cryptocurrencies like Tether in foreign exchange trading. However, Hong Kong, a major city located in Southern China, has proposed accepting and regulating “fiat-referenced stablecoins” (FRS). Issuers of this stablecoin are required to obtain a HKMA? licence to operate.
China’s Supreme People’s Procuratorate (SPP) — the highest national agency responsible for legal prosecution in mainland China, warned the public against using USDT as an intermediary to trade the Chinese yuan with other fiat currencies.?
The SPP made a joint statement with the State Administration of Foreign Exchange (SAFE), where it urged local officials to implement stricter measures against the stablecoin Tether in cross-border foreign exchange transactions.
The SPP and the SAFE noted in their statement that making use of USDT as a medium of exchange between local and foreign currencies is illegal. Also, there will be punishments for fraudulent foreign exchange purchases, illegal foreign exchange transactions and other foreign exchange-related illegal and criminal activities by the law.?
Meanwhile, a joint consultation paper from the Financial Services and the Treasury Bureau and the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) requires companies that actively market their issuance of FRS to the public of Hong Kong to be licensed by the HKMA.
To obtain an HKMA licence, issuers will need the full backing of all circulating stablecoins with reserves “at least equal to the par value", segregation and safekeeping of reserve assets, disclosure and regular reporting. However, the document by HKMA noted that algorithmic stablecoins are not qualified for licensing.
There’s Always More
New Year, More From BitDelta
That's it from us, folks.
Let’s see what 2024 has in store for us…???
See you next week!?
P.S. If you haven't made a New Year's resolution yet, kickstart your financial journey with BitDelta and register for a free account today!