Fidelity Digital Assets Gets Approval to Custody Bitcoin for Institutions
Bakkt got NY Trust Charter's approval last week. And Fidelity gets their approval this week. This allows Fidelity to provide crypto custody services for all institutional investors. (We touched on the importance of crypto custody solutions in last week's letter here).
Let's not forget – Fidelity is one of the largest asset managers in the world with $2.46 trillion in assets under management. π
| | Bitcoin Fixes This: PayPal Cuts Payouts To Over 100,000 Pornhub Models
Bitcoin is being championed as the solution to a new payment crisis affecting the adult entertainment website Pornhub. In a blog post on Nov. 14, Pornhub revealed that payment processor PayPal had abruptly stopped servicing its models.
Very ironic considering porn is what led to the creation of online payments and e-commerce in the first place in the 90s. Can you imagine if the entire industry standardized itself on #blockchain crypto payments & boycotted the failing legacy bank system? H/t @jaredctate.
| | 99% of Token Price Is Pure Speculation Says VeChain Founder
There's no big-time story here, but rather just a big-time quote:
"99% of a [token's value] is linked to speculation, and not to the value that solution can bring to society. This causes many startups to waste a lot of time producing and 'selling' the token, failing to develop solutions for where they were initially focused."
Love it when token founders sprinkle of a pinch of reality to the world. We couldn't have said it better ourselves. Without utility, we're unfortunately only left with speculation. This is what's driving prices up and down 99% of the time...
| | Congressman Shares Massive Crypto Story TONIGHT
If you didn't buy bitcoin for 5 cents back in 2010, then get ready for TONIGHT. A three-time candidate for President of the United States will join our friends at Stansberry Research and make a major announcement at 8pm ET.
In short, it could hand you the biggest investment gain of your life… on a tiny crypto trading for less than a cup of coffee.
| | Blockchain Analytics Firm Elliptic Finds Over $400M Worth of XRP Tied to Illegal Activities
There are over $400 million worth of illicit activities conducted via XRP, and a large portion of these activities are scams and Ponzi schemes, Elliptic, a blockchain analytics startup, has found. Elliptic is quick to point out though that illicit activity identified represents less than 0.2% of total XRP transactions, demonstrating that the vast majority of activity is legitimate.
In other XRP related news, Ryan Selkis at Messari has some words about Ripple's charitable donations (none) and potential tax sheltering.
| | The Tales of Two Crypto Companies Going Public
Some interesting developments to pay attention to are crypto companies who decide to go public (through a real IPO, not an ICO). This quarter, we've got Silvergate and Canaan Creative on deck.
To get the inside scoop on "the bank of crypto," Silvergate (NYSE), we're going to pass it along to Matt Levine of Bloomberg who shares an interesting perspective. On the other hand, we have crypto hardware firm, Canaan Creative (NASDAQ). They have recently revised their initial valuation and have seen a fair share of skeptics.
| | Crypto Derivatives: A Corner of the Market or the Market Itself?
A little known fact: Derivate exchanges have 10x more volume than respective spot market exchanges. Here's why... along with an interesting big-picture take on crypto derivative markets in general.
| | China Cracks Down on Bitcoin (For the Hundredth Time)
After President Xi Jingping's recent praise for blockchain technology, Chinese crypto speculation skyrocketed, leading the countries financial regulators to crack down on cryptocurrency trading again.
The move underscores China's complicated relationship with emerging decentralized technologies.
For some context on what the ACTUAL state of crypto, bitcoin, and blockchain is in China, we urge you to read these slides on the "Top 5 China Myths" from @DoveyWan's presentation at InvestNYC earlier this week.
| | Analyst: "All Hell is About to Break Loose"
They warned investors that the stock market was going to collapse in 1987... they forecasted the tech stock bubble in 1999... and they predicted the housing crash of 2007.
If you were one of the millions of Americans who didn't heed their warnings then, we implore you to watch their video and listen this time.
There's not a moment to lose. See for yourself why this man is sounding the alarm bell with good reason.
| | Presidential Canidate Andrew Yang Outlines Crypto Revamp
U.S. Democratic 2020 presidential candidate Andrew Yang has outlined how he intends to regulate the crypto industry at a national level...
In a blog post, Yang states that crypto fraud is due to a lack of adequate regulations... and he's not far off by any means. In his opinion, other countries are ahead of the U.S. on regulation, which is forcing the U.S. to play catch up.
His framework would define what a token is, and when it is a security; define which federal agencies have regulatory power over crypto; provide for consumer protections; and clarify the tax implications of owning, selling, and trading cryptocurrencies.
| | Federal Reserve Evaluating Digital Dollar
Earlier today, Chairman Powell said that the Fed is looking into creating a digital dollar, but the benefits of doing so are still unclear.
Truthfully, this story is a can of worms. If anything comes into fruition, plenty of issues could arise. This includes monetary policy, citizen privacy, regulations, IT security – you name it.
Not a surprise that the Fed is "looking" into it though...
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