Weekly News Digest for Mar 19-25
Market Update
Last week, the crypto market exhibited a complex interplay of bullish and bearish signals. Bitcoin navigated through volatile changes, with technical analysis showing a mix of bullish optimism and caution due to potential selling pressures, while Ethereum's price demonstrated a tense equilibrium amidst uncertain market dynamics. Amid speculative fervor, predictions and long-dated Bitcoin call options suggested confidence in the asset's long-term value, with significant targets set between $100,000 to $150,000. However, the market's volatility was evident as Bitcoin oscillated around key support levels, impacted by the Federal Reserve's rate decisions and institutional analyses of the upcoming Bitcoin halving. Despite a momentary rally post-Fed announcement, overarching concerns of a potential market cooldown and the bearish indicators put traders on alert, culminating in a mixed week that saw both significant gains in select altcoins and cautious optimism for Bitcoin's future trajectory.
News of the Week
The Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC) has enacted what is considered the world's first comprehensive Digital Assets Law, which revamps its existing legislative framework to incorporate digital assets. This new law redefines previous laws concerning contracts, insolvency, securities, and property, acknowledging digital assets as a new class of property and providing guidelines on their control, transfer, and management. The DIFC's Chief Legal Officer, Jacques Visser, highlights the groundbreaking nature of this law, which sets legal precedents for property law concerning digital assets.
Over 93% of Bitcoin's total supply has been mined, with only 1.34 million bitcoins left, indicating an imminent era of scarcity. The upcoming fourth halving will cut the mining reward by half, further limiting the availability of new bitcoins and marking the last occasion when a whole bitcoin constitutes part of the reward subsidy. Entities like corporations, governments, ETFs, and others currently hold significant portions of the circulating supply, potentially limiting access for average individuals.
Bitcoin.com has announced the integration of its ecosystem token, VERSE, with BitPay, enhancing the token's utility by enabling it as a payment option across BitPay's extensive network of merchants. This partnership significantly broadens the range of services and sectors where VERSE can be used, including direct wallet payments, crypto-powered gift cards, and bill payments at globally recognized brands and organizations. The integration promotes Bitcoin.com 's mission of economic freedom by making transactions more inclusive and efficient, thanks to BitPay's support of ERC-20 tokens on the Polygon network which offers low fees and high-speed processing.
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Microstrategy completed a $603.75 million offering of convertible senior notes and then used the proceeds and excess cash to purchase 9,245 bitcoins for approximately $623 million. With this acquisition, Microstrategy's total bitcoin holdings amount to 214,246 bitcoins, acquired at an average price of $35,160 each. The business intelligence firm has been adding bitcoin to its balance sheet since 2020 and is one of the largest public companies in terms of bitcoin reserves held.
This week, Solana's decentralized exchange platforms have surpassed Ethereum's in daily trading volume, reaching $2.802 billion compared to Ethereum's $2.03 billion. Despite this daily victory, Solana still ranks second to Ethereum on a weekly basis, with $17.151 billion in dex volume compared to Ethereum's $19.746 billion. Solana's recent surge in value has also resulted in it becoming the fourth largest chain by the total value locked in decentralized finance, with $4.325 billion.
The Argentine Senate has approved a law that mandates the establishment of a registry for cryptocurrency service providers, which will be managed by the CNV, Argentina's securities enforcer. This law is designed to ensure that crypto companies provide personal information on their customers and other data to government entities to comply with anti-money laundering regulations. It was passed as a response to the global money-laundering watchdog FAFT's recommendations, ahead of their evaluation of Argentina's efforts in anti-money laundering measures.
The real-world assets platform Gluwa is aiming to assist in creating Liberia's central bank digital currency (CBDC) and is considering integrating it with the existing mobile money system in the country. Gluwa's CEO, Tae Oh, met with Liberian President Joseph Boakai to discuss the potential collaboration and also addressed the issue of poor internet connectivity in rural Liberia. To support the CBDC and improve internet access, Gluwa plans to launch a
The Hong Kong Monetary Authority has commenced the second phase of the pilot program for its central bank digital currency (CBDC), the e-HKD, building on the initial phase's exploration of tokenization and programmability. This new phase aims to deepen research on previously studied use cases while introducing additional ones not previously considered, and includes the creation of a sandbox for interoperability and interbank settlements. Outcomes from this phase, alongside Project Ensemble's results, will inform the potential implementation of the CBDC and its role in the digital money landscape.
Genesis Global Capital has agreed to pay a $21 million penalty to the SEC for unregistered securities offering via its Gemini Earn program, but the payment will only be made after all bankruptcy claims are settled. The SEC settlement, reached on March 19, 2024, states that retail investors and other allowed claimants will be prioritized over the SEC's penalty collection. SEC Chair Gary Gensler emphasized the importance of crypto lending platforms and intermediaries adhering to securities laws to protect investors and preserve market trust.