As bitcoin, ethereum and other cryptocurrencies get increasing attention from investors, Wall Street and its traditional banks continue to adjust to the shift. Catch up on this week's top stories highlighting the intersection of these old guard and new school areas of finance with this recap compiled by The Fly.
BINANCE TO ACQUIRE COINMARKETCAP: Binance, the blockchain company behind the world’s largest digital asset exchange, announced Thursday that it has acquired CoinMarketCap, a cryptoasset data tracking site, for an undisclosed sum. The companies said, “Binance and CoinMarketCap will together pursue their common vision of making cryptoassets more widely accessible and useful to users globally.” CoinMarketCap will continue to be run as an independent business entity. While the Binance cryptocurrency exchange and its native token BNB are listed on CoinMarketCap, CoinMarketCap and Binance are separate entities that maintain a strict policy of independence from one another: Binance has no bearing on CoinMarketCap rankings, while CoinMarketCap has no influence over Binance’s operations. The companies said, “CoinMarketCap stays committed to providing the most accurate, timely and quality cryptocurrency data in the industry while benefiting from Binance’s expertise, resources and scale." As part of the transition, Brandon Chez, the founder of CoinMarketCap, will be stepping down as CEO and will be replaced by Carylyne Chan, the current chief strategy officer, as interim CEO. Chez will remain as an advisor to CoinMarketCap.
DIGINEX HIRES ASIA CHAIRMAN: Diginex, a digital asset financial services and advisory company, announced Thursday it has hired Chi-Won Yoon as Chairman of Asia. Yoon’s most recent role prior to Diginex was Vice Chairman of UBS Wealth Management (UBS), responsible for developing and enhancing long-term strategic relationships. Yoon announced his retirement from UBS last year, after 22 years with the firm. Based in Hong Kong, Yoon will work closely with Diginex business heads to bring its digital asset financial services and blockchain solutions to partners and investors throughout Asia.
CRYPTO EXCHANGE XDEX ANNOUNCES CLOSURE: Brazilian crypto exchange XDEX announced Tuesday that it would shutter operations. The company said, “Today, we announce that XDEX is starting the process of closing its activities. Market projection, competition and few regulatory advances reduced the opportunities found at the beginning of the project and were the basis for this difficult decision." Customers have 30 days from the announcement to close their positions and fully withdraw balances in reais on the platform. “When making the withdrawal request, the funds will be sent to the bank account registered at XDEX within one business day, according to bank records," the company said, adding, "After the 30-day period, if the customer has not sold the assets, we will do it on their behalf and the amount obtained from the sale will be deposited in the bank account registered with XDEX within three business days."
DPW PROVIDES COVID-19 UPDATE: DPW Holdings (DPW) provided an update on Monday related to the impact that the coronavirus disease is having on its business. The company’s corporate headquarters, located in Newport Beach, CA, is closed and the headquarters staff is working remotely, based on the occupancy and social distancing orders. Coolisys Technologies, located in Fremont, CA, has temporarily suspended operations as a result of the order to cease all activities at facilities located within Alameda County. While the Fremont, CA facility is temporarily closed, Coolisys has been able to fulfill many orders through direct shipments from Coolisys' third-party manufacturing partners. The I.AM Prep Kitchen restaurants, located in San Diego, CA, have temporarily suspended operations and Microphase Corporation, located in Shelton, CT, has developed an emergency plan to ensure that its mission critical manufacturing and logistical functions are up and running. Gresham Power Electronics, located in Salisbury, UK, temporarily suspended operations on March 19 and Enertec Systems 2001 Ltd., located in Karmiel, Israel, has been granted a waiver by the Israeli government to remain open to complete key projects that impact national security. Approximately 50% of the Enertec workforce is working remotely. Digital Farms' cryptocurrency mining operations have been suspended indefinitely, primarily due to the sharp decline in the market price for bitcoin.
RIOT PRODUCES 102 BITCOINS IN MARCH: Riot Blockchain (RIOT) provided a production update on Wednesday for March. During March, the company produced 102 newly mined bitcoins with the new Bitmain S17's fully deployed for the entire month of March. Prior to the Oklahoma City mining facility upgrade, Riot produced 45 BTC in December 2019 with approximately 7,500 S9's, but no S17's yet deployed. Post upgrade, the March production resulted in a 126% increase of BTC vs. December 2019. Riot's bitcoin inventory has increased by 14% since February 29 to 819 BTC as of March 31. Riot began operating under COVID-19 contingency plans several weeks ago and impacts on employees and operations have been minimal.
CRYPTO STOCK PLAYS: Cryptocurrency revenues have been pointed to as reasons to be bullish on Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) and Nvidia (NVDA) in select research. Overstock (OSTK), DPW Holdings, Kodak (KODK), Ideanomics (IDEX), Riot Blockchain, Pareteum (TEUM) and Social Reality (SRAX) are other stocks that have been touted, or promoted themselves, as a way to play the crypto theme.
PRICE ACTION: As of time of writing, bitcoin rose roughly 4.5% this week to $6,910 in U.S. dollars, according to TradeBlock.
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