Date: 10/21/2021
“You’re supposed to just buy Bitcoin,” Thiel said, adding, “I feel like I’ve been underinvested in it.” — Peter Thiel, PayPal co-founder
Weekly News Report:
1. Bullish momentum has returned to the cryptocurrency market, with Bitcoin leading the charge towards new all-time highs. The total market capitalization of all cryptocurrencies rose to new all-time highs on Wednesday, capping off a dramatic months-long recovery that reaffirmed the bullish narrative for Bitcoin and Ether. A buying frenzy in the market lifted Bitcoin to new record highs, as the flagship cryptocurrency touched an intraday peak of $67,016.50.
2. According to data from Fiatmarketcap, Bitcoin’s market cap was more than $1.263 trillion when the price of the crypto asset reached an all-time high of roughly $67,000 earlier on Wednesday. This briefly exceeded the value of the circulating supply of the Swiss franc at 1,158,489,000,000 CHF, or roughly $1.26 trillion.
3. The United States Securities and Exchange Commission, or SEC, has likely approved asset manager VanEck’s Bitcoin Strategy exchange-traded fund (ETF), with trading expected to begin on Monday.
4. Iconic Funds claims its index fund will be Europe’s first with direct exposure to crypto assets listed on a regulated market. The Malta Financial Services Authority has greenlit the crypto asset index fund from asset manager Iconic Funds for listing on the Malta Stock Exchange.
5. Chinese online retail giant JD.com is diving into the nonfungible token, or NFT, industry by introducing a special NFT series for its annual JD Discovery conference. Using its proprietary blockchain platform, JD.com will be distributing commemorative NFT certificates to attendees of the JDD 2021 event in Beijing.
6. The new allocation extends DCG’s purchase authorization for the Grayscale Bitcoin Trust by $250 million. According to an announcement issued on Wednesday, DCG is now authorized to buy up to $1 billion worth of Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (GBTC).
7. Fixed-income manager PIMCO is planning to increase its exposure to digital currencies such as Bitcoin after dabbling in the asset class through crypto-linked securities, offering the latest evidence that major institutions are starting to embrace the emerging asset class. In an interview with CNBC on Wednesday, chief investment officer Daniel Ivascyn confirmed that PIMCO already has exposure to “crypto-linked securities” through various hedge fund portfolios.
8. Measurable Data Token (MDT) has announced the launch of a blockchain-based oracle service, Measurable Finance (MeFi), which has been designed to connect traditional financial data markets to the decentralized finance (DeFi) sector.
9. As a result of El Salvador’s mainstream Bitcoin adoption, Volaris El Salvador, a local subsidiary of budget Mexican airline Volaris, will accept Bitcoin as payment. The Bitcoin move comes a month after Salvadoran aviation authorities gave Volaris’ local subsidiary permission to operate in the country.
10. Russian authorities continue to show increasing interest in cryptocurrencies as Bitcoin nears a new all-time high. The Russian government is considering a new project to mine Bitcoin with associated petroleum gas.
11. The Senate Committee on Australia as a Technology and Financial Center (ATFC) has just tabled its third and final report in parliament, which has 12 far-reaching recommendations for the regulation of the digital asset and fintech industry down under. It proposes new licenses for crypto exchanges, new laws to govern decentralized autonomous organizations (DAO), an overhaul of capital gains tax in decentralized finance (DeFi) and a tax discount for crypto miners using renewable energy.
12. Galaxy Interactive, a venture capital firm focused on next-generation interactive technology, has announced it has raised $325 million for its second fund from 70 different investors. The venture capital firm will fund companies in the interactive sector that combine content, finance and tech.
13. ProShares’ Bitcoin Strategy exchange-traded fund (BITO) saw the highest ever first day “natural” volume for an exchange-traded fund (ETF), with the figure reaching a little over $1 billion by the end of the opening day, , with 24.313 million BITO shares changing hands.
14. Major cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase has inked a deal with the National Basketball Association, giving the platform the opportunity to educate basketball fans on crypto. The deal comes as the NBA prepares to start its 2021–2022 season, marking the association’s 75th anniversary.
15. Concurrent to the United States finally launching its first Bitcoin (BTC) futures-based exchange-traded fund (ETF) Tuesday, France inches closer to a major Bitcoin-related ETF launch. Called “Melanion BTC Equities Universe UCITS ETF,” the Bitcoin ETF will start trading on France’s primary stock exchange, Euronext Paris, at 7 am UTC.
16. DeFi users appear to be choosing Arbitrum over Optimism for scaling as Uniswap’s layer-two volume presses into record highs. Despite the Ethereum Foundation and crypto venture giant Andressen Horowitz backing Optimism, Arbitrum appears to have emerged as the decentralized finance community’s second-layer rollups solution of choice.
