BitDigest February 10 · Issue #839
Feb 10, 2021
- Bitcoin’s and ether’s recent jumps have driven Binance Coin and Chainlink to new highs
- ECB hints that it may effectively limit the amount of digital euros individuals can hold at the central bank
- France’s market watchdog suggests European crypto providers would benefit if Europe had a single financial/crypto authority
The Headlines
ECB Looking to Protect Bank Deposits with Digital Euro Rollout
www.ecb.europa.eu
Fabio Panetta, deputy governor of the Bank of Italy and an executive member of the European Central Bank (ECB), says that the ECB is looking to avoid an impact to bank deposits by only allowing individuals to maintain digital holdings at the ECB up to a “certain threshold” possibly around €3,000 and could make it “unattractive above this amount by charging interest on deposits.
Europe Would Benefit from Single Crypto Authority
www.amf-france.org
The chair of France’s regulatory watchdog said the selection of a single financial authority, like the European Securities and Markets Authority, would be the best way to guarantee a level playing field for all crypto-asset service providers in the EU.
St. Louis Fed Sees Opportunities in DeFi
www.research.stlouisfed.org
📝The Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis suggests that DeFi protocols “replicate existing financial services in a more open, interoperable, and transparent way” that could “potentially contribute to a more robust and transparent financial infrastructure,” but suggest that DeFi is still a “niche market with certain risks.“
North Korea Allegedly Behind KuCoin Theft
www.reuters.com
A United Nations inquiry into the theft of $281 million in cryptocurrencies from KuCoin found strong links to North Korea and accuses the Democratic People’s Republic of using stolen funds to support its nuclear and ballistic missile programs to circumvent sanctions.
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Gensler Seeking an Ethics Waver Over Crypto Matters
FILE/Gensler,%20Gary%20%20finalEA.pdf?utm_campaign=BitDigest&utm_medium=email&utm_source=Revue%20newsletter" target="_blank"> www.extapps2.oge.gov
Gary Gensler will seek an ethics waiver to participate in crypto matters allow him to receive a royalty payment derived from his “intellectual property rights in the MIT Media Lab Cryptocurrency Online Course.”
Rhode Island Proposes Blockchain / Regulatory Sandbox
www.legiscan.com
Lawmakers in Rhode Island have proposed the creation of regulatory sandbox and blockchain filling system allowing the Ocean State “to compete in the twenty-first century economy” and build a “more robust public-private partnership framework [which] is mandatory for economic success.”
DLive's Political Beliefs Questioned by Congress
www.cdn.vox-cdn.com
Members of the House Committee on Intelligence have sent a letter to decentralized streaming platform DLive accusing the platform of promulgating extremist views that incite offline conflict and violence following the platforms use to stream individual feeds from the January 6th storming of the US Capital.
Canaan Announces Improved Revenue Visibility
www.investor.canaan-creative.com
📈Chinese mining equipment supplier Canaan (NASDAQ: CAN) announced that its revenue visibility has improved substantially as a result of attaining purchase orders totaling more than 100,000 units of bitcoin miners from North American customers, but specific guidance was not provided.
BlockFi Launches Bitcoin Trust
www.prnewswire.com
Crypto lending platform BlockFi has launched the BlockFi Bitcoin Trust, an investment vehicle for investors seeking access to the leading digital asset. The Trust will charge a fee of 1.75% and already has $30 million in AUM.
Bitcoin for Everybody
www.twitter.com
🐦 MicroStrategy CEO Michael Saylor has introduced a free 12 hour online course to educate people about bitcoin on Saylor Academy, his only learning center.
$3 billion Bitcoin Seizure Tied to Corrupt Agents, Not Ross
www.fortune.com
Last November there were rumblings that a US Justice Department’s announcement that it had seized 70,000 bitcoin from “individual X” may actually be an attempt by Mt. Gox creator Ross Ulbricht to get an early release from his two life sentence jail term, but it now appears that the funds seized as part of new case against corrupt federal agents who were previously sentenced for extorting Ulbircht and the dark web marketplace.
Exchange, Custody and Product News
BitMEX Proposes Framework for Travel Rule
www.blog.bitmex.com
BitMEX has released the BitMEX Travel Rule Data Storage Principles as a non-copyright open source to suggest some gilding principles for virtual asset service providers response to the Financial Action Task Force’s recent data requirements.
Thoughts on the Ecosystem
Bitcoin is Responsible Alternative to Large Cash Positions
www.cnbc.com
CNBC’s Jim Cramer says bitcoin is “exciting” and “an alternative to a cash position, where you [earn] absolutely nothing,” suggesting it could be a “little inflated” but that it is “almost irresponsible not to include” bitcoin in your portfolio.
Central Banks Should Ban POW Currencies
www.twitter.com
🐦 Former British member of Parliament Nick Boles suggested the world would be better off avoiding proof-of-work currencies tweeting that “central banks should ban the trading of [bitcoin] and force anyone who holds [it] and wants to use it in any transaction, to exchange it for another currency that does not have such a damaging side effect.
Other Large Companies Unlikely to Copy Tesla's BTC Purchase
www.bloomberg.com
JP Morgan strategists do not believe other large companies will follow Tesla and add bitcoin to its balance sheets suggesting the recent 80% “volatility of bitcoin” would deter this decision, but “irrespective of how many corporates eventually follow Tesla’s example, there is no doubt that this week’s announcement changed abruptly the near-term trajectory for bitcoin by bolstering inflows and by helping bitcoin to break out above $40k.
Reports you may have missed
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