Tag: Insider Insights

Fidelity Investments acquires a BitLicense, Opening the Door to New York’s Financial Market 

Regulators Combine and Focus Their Efforts

This summer, the New York State Department of Financial Services (NYDFS) has assembled its personnel that are focused on supervising and regulating business operating in digital assets into a single, unified team. Previously, the staff tasked with this responsibility were spread over different siloed departments, making it difficult for them to communicate. Although the regulatory body has been operating and issuing a small number of digital asset charters, colloquially known as BitLicenses to well-known cryptocurrency exchanges such as BitStamp and Coinbase in the past, its latest issuance to Fidelity Investments is notable being the first major institution to receive one of the coveted licenses.

This represents the 23rd such license granted to institutions in New York State to date, the most recent prior to this being Bakkt, which proceeded to launch regulated Bitcoin futures on the New York Stock Exchange. Other recent license recipients include PAX Gold, a gold-pegged asset-backed token, and BUSD, a USD-pegged asset-backed token.
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Bakkt’s Flopped Launch Exhibits Negative Market Sentiment.. or Does It?

The State of the Bitcoin Market

The prior few months have exhibited market indicators that could be viewed as concerning for digital assets across the board – most notably Bitcoin, which is viewed as the flagship asset, due to its length of history and level of utilization. Although trading prices are not terribly far off from their recent peaks and represent quite a healthy gain over the past several months, trading volume has appeared to become chilled as a result of wider market news. Despite this, several bright spots remain and a breakdown of what’s happening will show the best way forward and how to put these indicators into wider context.

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Financial Endowments Vigorously Pursue Digital Assets

Institutional Money Finds its Way In

Digital assets continue to forge new avenues into financial and investment markets. The latest sign is large institutions beginning to treat them with the attention they deserve. Many private companies in the US have already implemented blockchain as a method of improving their offerings or internal processes, but institutional investors have now demonstrated an interest in digital assets strictly as a method of earning returns. They have taken a particular interest in Bitcoin; not only because of the longevity the asset has demonstrated, but also the continued healthy, organic growth that has pushed the environment forward, even during market downturns. The diligent work that developers and participants have put into the space has not gone unnoticed.

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The American Economy Signals Significant Events Ahead

Economic Signals Portend Big Changes

Over the past year, there have been several indicators that point towards the United States moving towards a recession. Although the previously discussed trade war with China is certainly having a negative impact, there are telltale signs painting a concerning picture for the US economy. It’s important to have a bird’s eye view of what is happening in the economy as well as investment options to successfully navigate it should the worst predictions come to pass.

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US Government Reviews Facebook’s Libra

Congress Reacts to Facebook’s Offering

On July 16th, 2019, the Senate Facebook Committee held a hearing to discuss Facebook’s Libra digital asset. During this hearing, lawmakers raised concerns about Libra, fearing that the currency may attempt to challenge or destabilize the US dollar, as well as questioning Facebook’s decision to base their Libra Association in Switzerland. Libra stands to challenge the status quo in the US banking system with a reach that no other digital assets to date have been able to manage and this disruptive model has been able to gain the attention of lawmakers at an unprecedented level. However, there is a key difference in how the attention’s sentiment has shifted over time. While previous discussions have been rooted in fear and apprehension, lawmakers have now begun to seek greater understanding in not only Libra but digital assets at large.

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Weighing In on Facebook’s Project Libra

A New Opportunity and a Powerful Backer

Although Facebook’s Project Libra stablecoin has been kept under wraps in development for some time now, the buzz around the project has grown louder and louder recently. While the digital assets space is rich with diversity and has no shortage of interesting projects to report on, this one in particular has eclipsed them and been brought to the forefront of the media. The combination of buy-in from major technical partners combined with Facebook’s massive clout has catapulted this asset into the spotlight in a manner that few other companies would be capable of.

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