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.
JUDGE ISSUES INJUNCTION IN TELEGRAM CASE: A judge has issued an injunction in the digital currency suit by the Securities and Exchange Commission against Telegram prohibiting the launch of the Telegram Open Network blockchain, Reuters’ Alison Frankel reported Wednesday. The judge said based on specific information regarding Telegram’s plan to offer a new cryptocurrency to trade on its TON platform, the SEC was likely to succeed in showing the blockchain’s developers engaged in the sale of unregistered securities. Telegram has filed a notice of appeal.
CFTC OFFERS VIEW ON ‘ACTUAL DELIVERY’ OF CRYPTO: The Commodity Futures Trading Commission has set out its view of what 'actual delivery' of digital currency means, Bloomberg’s Benjamin Bain and Matthew Leising reported Tuesday. The guidance is significant as it means there could be penalties for trades that don’t allow the buyer to take physical possession and control of a coin withing 28 days. While the guidance was largely in line with a proposal given in December 2017, it still may cause some major U.S. trading platforms to reevaluate business lines or risk facing enforcement actions.
REVOLUT LAUNCHES BANKING APP IN U.S.: British financial technology firm Revolut announced Tuesday it had launched its banking app for customers in the U.S. The company said, “America, we come bearing good news in these uncertain times. Revolut, the financial super app trusted by more than 10 million people worldwide, has landed in the United States. Imagine, one app to manage your entire financial life, with instant spending notifications, budgeting, global currency exchange, and the option to receive your paycheck up to two days early.”
BAIN FUND, BITMEX OWNER FUND COINDCX: Mumbai-based crypto exchange CoinDCX announced Tuesday it had secured $3M in funding. The company said, “We are extremely happy to share with our readers that CoinDCX has secured $3M Series A funding led by Polychain Capital, Bain Capital Ventures and HDR Group, operator of BitMEX with participation from other Venture Capitalists. This will reinforce our efforts in taking the #TryCrypto moment to an international level. Recently the Supreme Court quashed the banking ban by RBI enacted in 2018 and we have achieved 10x growth in the first week itself. With a slew of exciting projects in the pipeline, the funds will help us to pace up the transformation of global fintech space with our unique technology. We will boost our next phase of development including the launch of a new set of products, service enhancements, strengthening R&D, marketing activities, and human resource growth.”
NOVOGRATZ BUYS BITCOIN AFTER SLUMP: Billionaire Mike Novogratz is using the recent drop in bitcoin as a buying opportunity, Bloomberg’s Vildana Hajric reported Tuesday. “If there was ever a time -- debasement of fiat currencies, monetization of trillions of dollars of debt, this is the time for Bitcoin,” the CEO of Galaxy Digital Holdings, adding he may continue to buy dips in gold and Bitcoin. “It needs to rally this year,” he said. “If at the end of the year Bitcoin’s not a lot higher, I’m going to scratch my head and say, ‘Look, what the heck is going on?”’
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 (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 0.9% this week to $6,628 in U.S. dollars, according to TradeBlock.
Bitcoin
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Bitcoin
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AMD
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Nvidia
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OSTK
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Ault Global Holdings
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Eastman Kodak
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Ideanomics
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Riot Platforms
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Pareteum
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Srax
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