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.
FACEBOOK SIGNS BACKERS FOR CRYPTOCURRENCY: Over a dozen companies including Visa (V), Mastercard (MA), PayPal (PYPL) and Uber (UBER) have signed up to back Facebook's (FB) cryptocurrency Libra, which it plans to unveil next week and launch in 2020, the Wall Street Journal's AnnaMaria Andriotis, Peter Rudegeair and Liz Hoffman reported Thursday. The companies, venture capitalists and telecommunications firms will invest roughly $10M each in a consortium that will oversee the digital coin and the funds would be used for the creation of the cryptocurrency, which will be tied to a basket of government-issued currencies to avoid the volatility experienced by other digital coins. Following the report, Craig-Hallum analyst Brad Berning said in a research note that a Facebook cryptocurrency would be a "positive" for Buy-rated PayPal as it could drive higher adoption of Braintree merchant acceptance and the Facebook marketplace, which according to CFO John Rainey, could dwarf eBay (EBAY). In addition, Facebook has hired Ed Bowles, Standard Chartered's (SCBFF) European head of corporate and public affairs as its London-based director of public policy, The Financial Times' Stephen Morris reported Thursday.
BAKKT TO BEGIN BITCOIN FUTURES TESTING IN JULY: In a Thursday blog post, Bakkt chief operating officer Adam white said, “In July 20, 2019, the world marks the 50th anniversary of the first human landing on the Moon. When Neil Armstrong planted his foot on the lunar surface five decades earlier, he made good on what President John F. Kennedy promised would be America’s ‘moonshot bet’…Recently, Jeff Sprecher, the chairman and CEO of Intercontinental Exchange (ICE), in his fourth quarter earnings conference call, termed ICE’s investment in Bakkt ‘a bit of a moonshot bet.’ Practically speaking, however, Bakkt is a very ‘down to earth’ solution to the grounded challenge of building trust in bitcoin and other digital assets for institutions and consumers alike. Still, bitcoin price discovery, like a moonshot, requires diligent testing before launch. On July 22, two days after Apollo 11’s 50th anniversary, Bakkt will initiate user acceptance testing for its bitcoin futures listed and traded at ICE Futures U.S. and cleared at ICE Clear US. This is no small step. This launch will usher in a new standard for accessing crypto markets.”
IBM, WALMART, MERCK, FDA COLLABORATE ON BLOCKCHAIN: IBM (IBM), KPMG, Merck (MRK), and Walmart (WMT) announced Thursday that the companies have been selected by the FDA to be included in a program in support of the U.S. Drug Supply Chain Security Act that addresses requirements to identify, track and trace prescription medicines and vaccines distributed within the United States. The program is intended to assist drug supply chain stakeholders, including FDA, in developing the electronic, interoperable system that will identify and trace certain prescription drugs as they are distributed within the United States. The pilot project is scheduled to be completed in fourth quarter and results are expected to be published in an FDA DSCSA program report. At that time, the project's participants will evaluate next steps.
COINBASE DEBIT CARD LAUNCHES IN SIX MORE COUNTRIES: In a Tuesday blog post, Coinbase UK CEO Zeeshan Feroz announced the availability of Coinbase Card in Spain, Germany, France, Italy, Ireland and the Netherlands. Feroz said, “Coinbase Card lets anyone with a Coinbase account in a supported country spend their crypto instantly worldwide. Since launching in the UK, Coinbase Card users have been spending their crypto as easily as the money in their bank accounts. From grocery shopping, to cocktails and dinner dates, Coinbase Card has become the go-to card in our customers’ wallets…We’re constantly working to make the Coinbase Card experience even better. In the coming months, we’ll be introducing brand new features, as well as bringing the card to even more customers around the globe.”
MLG, LIBERIA MINISTRY OF FINANCE SIGN MOU: Overstock (OSTK) announced Monday that Medici Land Governance, its blockchain subsidiary focused on land administration, has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Liberia's Ministry of Finance and Development Planning. The MOU will lead to a pro bono pilot project exploring the potential for the digitization of existing government services and the development of e-government platforms in the African country, the company said. The project will explore moving Liberia towards a digital and blockchain-strengthened economy as well as facilitating interoperability among government services.
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, DPW Holdings (DPW), Kodak (KODK), Ideanomics (IDEX), Riot Blockchain (RIOT), 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 46.1% this week to $8,422 in U.S. dollars, according to TradeBlock.
Bitcoin
+ (+0.00%)
Bitcoin
+ (+0.00%)
Visa
-0.04 (-0.02%)
MasterCard
-0.44 (-0.17%)
PayPal
-0.01 (-0.01%)
Uber
-0.427 (-0.96%)
Ticker changed to META
+3.73 (+2.10%)
eBay
+0.14 (+0.36%)
IntercontinentalExchange
+0.15 (+0.18%)
IBM
-1.1 (-0.81%)
Merck
+0.4 (+0.49%)
Walmart
-0.035 (-0.03%)
AMD
-0.93 (-2.96%)
Nvidia
-4.85 (-3.27%)
Ault Global Holdings
+0.0035 (+2.55%)
Eastman Kodak
+ (+0.00%)
Ideanomics
+ (+0.00%)
Riot Platforms
+0.16 (+6.15%)
Pareteum
+0.05 (+1.64%)
Srax
+ (+0.00%)
OSTK
+
Standard Chartered
+ (+0.00%)