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 LIBRA PARTNERS NOT YET PAID: Executives at seven of Facebook's (FB) Libra partners say the companies have only signed nonbinding agreements and have not yet paid to join the Libra Association, The New York Times' Nathaniel Popper reported Tuesday. A number of partners plan to decide whether to join the association and make the payment after there is more clarity on how Libra will work. A Facebook spokeswoman said in a statement that the company plans "to engage in healthy dialogue and debate with our fellow founding members, and to welcoming additional members over the coming months." Additionally on Friday, Loop Capital analyst Alan Gould raised his price target for Facebook to $225 from $200 and reiterated a Buy rating on the shares. The Libra initiative will help "balance the narrative" on Facebook to innovation as opposed to privacy and regulation and is another step towards monetization of its messaging platforms, Gould said. Further, the analyst believes Facebook will continue to beat and raise on quarterly earnings as "engagement has held despite the privacy issues” and as advertisers simply have few alternatives that match the company's reach and targeting capability.
TZERO LAUNCHES CRYPTO WALLET APP: Overstock.com (OSTK) announced Thursday that its subsidiary tZERO, through its tZERO Crypto unit, has launched its digital wallet and exchange services mobile app for digital currencies. The tZERO Crypto App enables users to buy, sell, and hold digital currencies directly on their mobile phone. The initial app launch supports bitcoin and ethereum trading and is compatible with iOS devices, with Android compatibility coming soon. The app uses biometric authentication to enhance security against hacks and lost passwords and introduces tZERO's Private Key Recovery System, which allows funds to be restored if a user loses his or her private keys or smartphone. Additionally on Thursday, Overstock.com announced the creation of a new Digital Voting Series A-1 Preferred Stock, OSTKO. OSTKO will be traded on the PRO Securities ATS, an SEC registered alternative trading system operated by PRO Securities, a tZERO subsidiary and a broker-dealer, and powered by tZERO's new security token trading technology.
ANTITRUST REGULATORS MAY LOOK AT CRYPTO: Andreas Mundt, the head of Germany's Federal Cartel Office, said antitrust regulators could look into cryptocurrencies being launched by large tech companies, like Facebook's Libra, Reuters reported Thursday. "Cryptocurrencies launched by internet giants could become a topic for the cartel authorities," Mundt said.
IDEANOMICS, CHINA’S JAC SIGN MOU: Ideanomics (IDEX) announced Monday it has signed an agreement with Anhui Jianghuai Automobile Group, commercially known as JAC Motors. The deal is a strategic partnership, initially covering the China and ASEAN markets, with the ability to expand further. The Memorandum of Understanding is a pre-cursor to the definitive strategic agreement covering a range of activities designed to promote JAC's electric vehicle product line up as part of Ideanomics' newly established NEVCG division's activities. The MoU focuses on several key areas of activity, including EV taxi fleet rental and leasing in China, EV buses, heavy commercial truck sales and financing, municipal EV trucks, light commercial vehicles in China and ASEAN countries, and police and law enforcement passenger vehicles and light trucks. Ideanomics and JAC will also cooperate on new energy fuel cells, including electric and hydrogen batteries and the associated research, development, and testing for use in the target markets.
UBS CEO CAUTIOUSLY WELCOMES CRYPTO INNOVATION: UBS (UBS) CEO Sergio Ermotti said that Switzerland should welcome innovation in cryptocurrencies but needs to be wary about potential criminal abuses, Reuters reported Tuesday. "On balance (a) positive development, but watch out," Ermotti said in response to a question about the new Swiss-based Libra cryptocurrency project led by Facebook.
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, 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 20.4% this week to $11,801 in U.S. dollars, according to TradeBlock.
Bitcoin
+ (+0.00%)
Bitcoin
+ (+0.00%)
Ticker changed to META
+0.93 (+0.49%)
OSTK
+
Ideanomics
-0.04 (-1.83%)
UBS
+0.08 (+0.68%)
AMD
+0.04 (+0.13%)
Nvidia
+1.47 (+0.90%)
Ault Global Holdings
+0.0289 (+12.57%)
Eastman Kodak
-0.045 (-1.77%)
Riot Platforms
+0.07 (+2.29%)
Pareteum
+0.04 (+1.67%)
Srax
+ (+0.00%)