Strengths
- Of the cryptocurrencies tracked by CoinMarketCap, the best performer for the week was Zugacoin, rising 245,000%.
- Despite dimming odds that U.S. regulators will approve a structure for a cryptocurrency ETF, Grayscale Investments continues to build out its ETF team. According to Bloomberg, the company behind the largest cryptocurrency fund has tapped David LaValle, former CEO of index provider Alerian, as its global head of ETFs.
- Canadian precious-metals retailer Kitco is getting into the stablecoin game, writes CoinDesk. According to a press release on Wednesday, Kitco Gold (KGLD) will be fully backed by physical gold held in Kitco’s Direct Reserve vaults, the article explains, and will track the real-time market value of the yellow metal.
Weaknesses
- Of the cryptocurrencies tracked by CoinMarketCap, the worst performing for the week was Plethori, down 79.22%.
- Politicians and regulators have a flawed understanding of the cryptocurrency market and its technological underpinnings, according to billionaire crypto proponent Mike Novogratz. Amid the chorus of stringent crypto regulations among several U.S. leaders, Novogratz is looking to counter anti-cryptocurrency sentiments circulating in Washington, writes CoinTelegraph. On Tuesday, he tweeted that all politicians and regulators must to do their homework before devising policies to regulate the industry.
- Two leading Republican senators are at odds on how-to step-up tax reporting requirements for companies that serve the crypto community. Because they are looking for revenue to offset the infrastructure bill costs so it could be less than optimal in in rule implementation.
Opportunities
- The U.S. SEC needs clear authority over platforms that trade or lend cryptocurrencies, according to Chairman Gary Gensler in an interview with CNBC this week. As reported by CoinDesk, Gensler spoke of the agency’s desire to “stitch together” consumer protection on platforms that offer lending or trading of both tokens sold as securities and tokens sold as commodities.
- On Tuesday, Binance – the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange by trading volumes – announced a partnership with crypto-fiat hybrid payment platform Alchemy Pay, writes CoinTelegraph. Binance Pay users will now be able to pay across merchants of Alchemy Pay’s partners, including Shopify and software technology firm Arcadier.
- Nasdaq-listed Victory Capital has applied to the U.S. SEC to list an ETF tracking the Nasdaq Crypto Index, reports Yahoo! Finance. The company revealed its plan to enter the crypto market in June through a private fund tracking the NCI aimed at accredited investors, the article continues. It also announced intentions to launch private funds that mirrored equivalent Nasdaq indexes tracking the performance of Bitcoin and Ether.
Threats
- The SEC is considering whether to require Bitcoin mining to report their climate impact. Greenhouse gas emissions from cryptocurrency mining form an interesting intersection as it consumes a significant amount of electricity. SkyBridge Capital recently bought carbon offsets to green their Bitcoin holding, so the industry is already starting to consider these risks.
- Cryptocurrency Bitcoin SV is under a blockchain attack that appears to have inflicted at least some damage to the network, writes Bloomberg, according to a firm that analyzes system data. The 51% attack, as it is labeled, could enable the intruders to prevent new transactions from gaining confirmations, the article explains, thus giving them the power to stop payments between some or all users, or double-spend coins.
- Evidently, furniture maker Ethan Allen Interiors does not want to be associated with the crypto crowd. To make this perfectly clear, they announced on Thursday that they were changing their ticker symbol on the New York Stock Exchange from “ETH” to “ETD” to avoid confusion with cryptocurrency. The company specified that their brand is to evoke “classic, country, coastal and modern.” Ethan Allen Interiors does not do crypto.
Disclaimer: The views expressed in this article are those of the author and may not reflect those of Kitco Metals Inc. The author has made every effort to ensure accuracy of information provided; however, neither Kitco Metals Inc. nor the author can guarantee such accuracy. This article is strictly for informational purposes only. It is not a solicitation to make any exchange in commodities, securities or other financial instruments. Kitco Metals Inc. and the author of this article do not accept culpability for losses and/ or damages arising from the use of this publication.
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