Get your daily, bite-sized digest of cryptoasset and blockchain-related news – investigating the stories flying under the radar of today’s crypto news.
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Investments news
- Digital asset investment products saw inflows totaling USD 184m last week, per CoinShares data. Bitcoin (BTC) saw inflows totaling USD 145m last week (compared to USD 247m a week earlier) although it suffered at the end of the week with outflows of USD 42m on Friday and bore the brunt of investor jitters, the firm said. Ethereum (ETH) saw inflows totaling USD 25m (USD 2m more than a week earlier) but, like BTC, saw outflows of USD 4.7m last Friday.
- The company behind the FTSE 100, the primary reference point for the performance of the UK stock market, is set to develop a crypto index which it says will “sit alongside” the benchmark equities, CITY A.M. reported, citing Kristen Mierzwa, the head of ETF strategy and business development for the FTSE Russell, a London Stock Exchange subsidiary which produces global market indices.
- As expected, today, the Chicago Mercantile Exchange Group launched Micro Ether futures (MET), sized at 1/10 of one ethereum.
- A number of investors including Sequoia Capital India and Steadview Capital are in talks to back Polygon (MATIC) by way of token purchase, TechCrunch reported. The investors are looking to purchase tokens worth USD 50m to USD 150m, their undisclosed sources said.
- Stacked, a web-based platform that provides passive investment tools for retail investors interested in crypto, raised a USD 35m Series A co-led by Alameda Research and Mirana Ventures, per TechCrunch. The company plans to use the funds to double its 40-person employee base in the next six to eight months and invest in user acquisition, growth, and marketing.
- Ault Global Holdings, a US-based diversified holding company, said that its subsidiary BitNile was the lead investor in a Series A USD 15m offering from Earnity Inc., a California-based DeFi marketplace. Joining the round are institutional investors Thorney, an Australian Securities Exchange-listed LIC company, and blockchain fund NGC Ventures.
Exchanges news
- Norwegian Block Exchange (NBX) said it has applied for listing on the Euronext Growth exchange and plans to become the first publicly listed crypto exchange in the Nordics. NBX also said it intends to obtain a license as an e-money institution.
- Binance is reviving plans for a UK launch by applying for an Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) licence, having hired an army of compliance officers and former employees of the City watchdog, the Telegraph reported. The exchange’s CEO Changpeng Zhao was quoted as saying that relations with the regulator had improved since Binance was censured this summer by the FCA.
- Singapore’s financial regulator has suspended Bitget, possibly for promoting the digital currency Army Coin, which is named after the followers of South Korean band BTS, The Guardian reported. Bitget has removed the Monetary Authority of Singapore’s logo from its website, but it still claims to have licenses from Australia, Canada, and the United States.
- Indian bank Kotak Bank decided to let crypto exchange WazirX open an account with them following almost eight months of payment freeze by most high-street banks that continue to shun crypto investors and bourses, Economic Times reported. However, the account has yet to become operational, and paperwork and know-your-customer (KYC) procedures are still going on.
- FTX released the “key principles” for regulating crypto exchanges, which will be part of CEO’s Sam Bankman-Fried’s written commentary to accompany his in-person testimony to the House Committee on Financial Services during its hearing on Wednesday, December 8th, 2021. They stated that the set of 10 principles details a regulatory environment that, if enacted, will allow policymakers to effectively regulate the digital asset ecosystem while maximizing the potential growth and innovation.
NFTs news
- Tom Brady, an American football quarterback for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers of the National Football League, is launching a set of his new non-fungible tokens (NFTs), Tom Brady Origins Collection, on his Autograph NFT platform that highlights a resume he had created prior to his 2000 draft selection and includes a stopwatch, cleats, and jersey used at the NFL combine, among other items.
Adoption news
- Cold-brew coffee company Oaza Beverages announced that they will start accepting cryptocurrency as a form of payment via payments provider BitPay. The company added that they will “confidently hold” BTC and ETH on their balance sheet.
Regulation news
- The UK Financial Conduct Authority said in a discussion paper that particularly high risk or alternative investments, such as cryptoassets and unlisted securities, could in certain circumstances be excluded from the Financial Services Compensation Scheme, which protects investors when companies fail. The FSCS protects as much as GBP 85,000 (USD 112,700) per customer if a firm goes down.
CBDCs news
- Zimbabwe’s central bank is exploring the use of a digital currency rather than allowing cryptocurrencies as legal tender and plans to send a team to Nigeria to learn from their experiences in launching the first digital currency in Africa in October, Bloomberg reported, citing the nation’s central bank Governor John Mangudya.
Career news
- Tech veteran Brian Roberts is joining NFT marketplace OpenSea as its first chief financial officer (CFO), Bloomberg reported. Roberts was previously the CFO of ridesharing company Lyft for seven years.
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