Admin

Libra coin, developed by Facebook, has been getting a lot of media attention, but what is? The infographic below gives a great explanation and visualization of what it is and what it is trying to accomplish.

This infographic was created by our friend Karthik at MrBTC.org

This infographic was originally made here.

By Jacob Pouncey | Saxo Bank Analyst | Crypto Current Contributor

This week the entire crypto market cap fell by 11%, bringing the market cap to USD 320 bn. Ethereum and Bitcoin fell by 12% and 10% respectively. This comes after a parabolic rally in Bitcoin price in the second quarter of 2019. Mike Novogratz, believes that the Bitcoin price will consolidate in the USD 10k-14k range before moving higher.

• Binance to launch futures
  One of the leading crypto exchanges Binance announced that it would roll out a futures exchange on its platform. The platform will allow up to 20x leverage. Binance is following the footsteps of similar exchanges such as Kraken in launching a futures exchange. This announcement by Binance comes on the heels of a recent commitment by the firm to introduce margin trading on 11 July. Expect more exchanges to launch futures and margin trading rather than exchange and service consolidation in the short term.  Exchanges are looking to grab a piece of the highly anticipated, historically large volume.

• BitMEX to launch fixed income product
  BitMEX, the world’s largest crypto derivative exchange by volume, announced that it would launch a fixed income product on its platform. The product would be a zero-coupon bond denominated in Bitcoin, which will be backed by blue-chip counterparties who are operating profitably in the industry. Depending on the volume and risk associated with these first-ever Bitcoin zero coupon bonds, it could lead to the creation Libor-like index for which traders and blockchain businesses can judge their return on crypto assets.

• Goldman may create coin
  David Solomon, the Chairman, and CEO of Goldman Sachs stated to a French news source that the company could launch its blockchain based coin similar to its rival JP Morgan. The CEO continued to say that we can reasonably assume that all major financial institutions are looking at the potential of blockchain technology, including tokenization and stablecoins. His statements come after a recent change of heart from President of the Bank for International Settlements (BIS) Agustin Carstens, who statedthat the bank is working on supporting central banks in their efforts to research and develop central bank digital currencies. Carstens also said that the market for these digital currencies might grow sooner than expected. The announcement of Facebook’s Libra is excellent motivation for Central Banks that are behind the curve. 
  

By Jacob Pouncey | Saxo Bank Analyst | Crypto Current Contributor

This week the entire crypto market cap rose by 25%, bringing the market cap to USD 360 bn. Etheruem and Bitcoin rose by 22% and 37% respectively. This marks a meteoric rise in Bitcoin price since the start of the quarter, moving from USD 4k to over USD 12k on the last week of the quarter. The move as pushed Bitcoin to over 60% of the entire cryptocurrency market cap, further dashing the hope that alt coins may recover to their previous all-time highs against BTC.

• Hedge Funds are still net short
  The recent commitment of traders report put out by the Commodities Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) highlights the fact that a majority of the market is exposed to the short side of Bitcoin prices despite the recent rise. This is mostly due to the fact that this is one of the most regulated and secure ways to short Bitcoin. Despite the open interest being net short, it does not mean leveraged funds believe the price crash. Instead, the funds could be using the shorts as a tool to hedge a much larger long position.

• LedgerX approved by CFTC
  The CFTC approved LedgerX’s application to offer physically settled Bitcoin futures to the retail market. It makes it one of the first exchanges in the US allowed to offer physically settled futures on Bitcoin. Its closest competition is the ICE’s Bakkt exchange, which is waiting on approval as a clearinghouse from the New York Department of Financial Services. Regardless, these services will open of regulated channels to both short and long Bitcoin, thereby helping price discovery.

• AMUN launching basket
  AMUN which already has four derivative products trading on the Swiss stock exchange SIX will launch a fifth exchange-traded product. This product will track the Bitwise Select 10 Large-Cap Crypto Index which consists of the top 10 cryptocurrencies in a market cap weighted portfolio. The product gives investors access to the majority of the cryptocurrency market. Products like these will become increasingly common on regulated exchanges.

• Bitmain IPO on horizon again
  Bitmain is back at it again, trying to IPO. The world’s leading producer of Bitcoin mining hardware was set to IPO on the Hong Kong stock exchange but let its application expire. However, it is rumored that the firm is looking to IPO on a US-based exchange. Last time the firm was looking to IPO was in the depth of the bear market, now their much anticipated IPO could have a more favorable outlook. The IPO will also bring to light the books and practices of the secretive firm.

By Jacob Pouncey | Saxo Bank Analyst | Crypto Current Contributor

This week the entire crypto market cap rose by 3%, bringing the market cap to USD 260 bn. Bitcoin and Ethereum rose by 2.5% and 1.5% respectively. Bitcoin has been gravitating around the USD 8k level, while ETH has found a new home around USD 250.

• Chinese stable coin use
  Crypto research firm Diar released a report on the most popular stable coin USDT, Tether. The analysis shows that despite what some may believe, on-chain transactions flowing to and from Chinese exchanges dwarf volumes at other trading venues. Chinese exchanges are accounting for nearly 60% of the on-chain volume for USDT while Bitfinex and Binance account for a combined 31% of USDT on-chain volume. Additionally, the data, selected by Bitwise to argue that the Bitcoin market is more regulated and smaller than reported, is mirrored by the Tether volumes on Chinese exchanges. All this means that Chinese exchanges still play an essential role in global pricing. The actual legit trading volume is higher than reported in the Bitwise report.

• Hong Kong’s crypto industry at risk 
  The new extradition law could put cryptocurrency traders and firms at risk in Hong Kong should it pass. Hong Kong is looking to adopt a new extradition treaty that would strengthen the judicial reach of Beijing in the autonomous territory. This political uncertainty in the region could help support BTC prices as entities look to store or transfer value outside of Hong Kong. Additionally, the continued weakening of the CNY against the dollar could help support prices for BTC, given what we know about Tether’s volume on Chinese exchanges.
  
  
• Sino-Russian crypto relations
  Recently, an economic forum in Russia suggested opening a special financial center on the Bolshoy Ussriysky Island, which is split between both Russia and China. The center would serve as a hub for cryptocurrency trading and other foreign exchange markets. There has not been an official Chinese response to the proposal, but this would help strengthen the economic relationship of the countries in the region and open more economic channels outside of the USD dominated avenues.
  
  
• Cboe futures set to expire for the last time
  Next week will mark the end of an era that started back in December 2017 when both CME and Cboe launched Bitcoin futures products. The last Bitcoin futures will expire on June 19th on the Cboe exchange. Meanwhile, the CME group is experiencing record-setting volume for its futures product, so much so that it is one of the products with the highest turnover for the firm. It is clear that CME is the winner with volumes multiple times greater than its rival Cboe.