- Anchorage Digital get its BitLicense: The digital asset platform and infrastructure provider can now offer crypto services to New York residents. Beyond that, though, Anchorage can now offer services to New York-based institutions, which opens up a large well of capital to the market. On the regulatory side, it’s just the?fifth?BitLicense regulators in New York has granted in 2024 — a year where the industry has skyrocketed. That puts an additional point on just how time-consuming and expensive it can be to snag the license. And to further that point: It’s been around since 2015, through bull and bear markets, and only 33 entities currently hold one.
- BVNK closes $50 million Series B at $750 million valuation: The stablecoin infrastructure provider becomes the latest firm — following Bridge’s historic $1.1 billion acquisition by Stripe in October — to benefit from the massive inflow of capital and interest in the stablecoin vertical this year. While the stablecoin sector is hot, to say the least, BVNK also holds valuable licenses to operate in the EU and other jurisdictions, giving them a path to partner with more established and compliance-conscious institutions. One key takeaway here is the value that well defined and workable regulations can have for start-ups and larger players.
- RLUSD hits exchanges after New York regulatory approval: Ripple enters a competitive market, but one that is growing as stablecoins look to be the dominant use case for crypto. As of now, the total stablecoin market cap sits at roughly $193 billion. But as more users take the on-ramp to crypto — Ripples execs predict we’ll see a $2 trillion in total stablecoin value by 2028 — there will be a huge amount of land to grab in this market. RLUSD started that climb with a $53 million market cap.
- SEC Commissioner Caroline Crenshaw loses chance at renewal term: The Senate Banking Committee — chaired by outgoing Senator Sharrod Brown — canceled its vote on Crenshaw’s reconfirmation. That means Crensahw can only keep her seat if the incoming Senate approves it. Industry groups strongly opposed extending Crenshaw’s term, with some painting her as worse than Gary Gensler on crypto. Crenshaw’s exit now leaves the incoming Administration with three open of five SEC commissioner seats to fill.
- SEC approves first hybrid Bitcoin-Ethereum ETFs: Hashdex and Franklin Templeton will see their ETFs traded on the Nasdaq and Cboe BZX Exchange, respectively. The index funds will give retail and institutional investors a shot at diversification through a single product. Allocations between BTC and ETH have yet to be set, but the ETFs will be?market cap weighted, meaning an 80/20 split is likely.
Co-Founder | COO | Startup Advisor
1 个月Very informative