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Crypto Tidbits: Fidelity’s Bitcoin Offering Live, Starbucks May Accept Cryptocurrency

Crypto tidbits: fidelity’s bitcoin offering live, starbucks may accept cryptocurrency

Crypto Tidbits: Fidelity’s Bitcoin Offering Live, Starbucks May Accept Cryptocurrency

Crypto tidbits: fidelity’s bitcoin offering live, starbucks may accept cryptocurrency

Prospects for the crypto space remain bright. Over the past week, Wall Street giant Fidelity Investments has soft-launched its digital asset branch, Starbucks is purportedly looking to accept bitcoin, and Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey has only doubled-down on his support for BTC and its respective ecosystem.

Crypto Tidbits:

  • Fidelity’s Crypto Branch Live, Serving Select List Of Clients: At long last, it has been officially confirmed that Fidelity Digital Asset Services (FDAS), the first fully-fledged crypto platform backed by Wall Street, has gone live. In a number of interviews with cryptocurrency outlets this week, Tom Jessop, a former Goldman Sachs executive turned head of FDAS, explained that his brainchild’s offerings are live for a select list of “eligible clients.” Jessop adds that at the moment, the platform only supports bitcoin, and will be staving off its verdict on Ethereum due to impending blockchain upgrades. Regardless, many were enthused by this offering, claiming that this could be the match that could revive the once-bustling cryptocurrency market.
  • BlockFi Launches 6.2% Interest Account For bitcoin And Ethereum: Popular crypto startup BlockFi has revealed its latest offering, giving its clients a way to stack satoshis and gwei amid a bear market. As we reported this week, the New York-headquartered company, which raised $52.5 million from investors like Novogratz’s Galaxy Digital last July, will allow users to deposit a minimum of one BTC or 25 ETH to get a 6.2% APR, denominated in cryptocurrency. The Winklevoss Twins’ Gemini Trust will be backing the novel offering through custody, which has full insurance coverage. While the “interest account” has a solid premise, some were fearful that this could push the crypto market lower, with skeptics of BlockFi drawing attention to the rehypothecation of cryptocurrency.
  • Starbucks May Launch Support For bitcoin Through Bakkt: According to an exclusive report from The Block, which cited sources familiar with dealings, Starbucks may be launching support for digital asset payments in the coming months. The Block founder Mike Dudas took to Twitter to divulge the news, remarking that Starbucks received a significant stake in Bakkt, a crypto startup headed by the Intercontinental Exchange, in exchange for “commitment to allow bitcoin payments in store in 2019.” Bakkt’s software will purportedly facilitate these payments, which will be instantly converted from cryptocurrencies into fiat currencies.
  • Jack Dorsey Still Enamored With Bitcoin: Just weeks after he revealed that he would look into integrating the Lightning Network into Square, Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey has revealed that he has purchased $10,000 in BTC in the past week alone. Rumor on the block(chain) claims that Dorsey is accumulating this much, if not more, each and every week. In a tweet, he went on to laud Trezor, revealing that he had purchased a hardware device from the cryptocurrency firm through Cash App.
  • QuadrigaCX’s bitcoin Wallets Have Been Empty Since Early-2018: Big Four auditor Ernst & Young has confirmed that addresses tied to the embattled QuadrigaCX have been left out to dry for months. The firm revealed that the exchange’s bitcoin wallets have been empty since 2018. Not just late-2018, but in April 2018. The auditor claims to that contrary to the affidavit filed by Jennifer Robertson, Cotten’s widow, there are not dozens of millions worth of BTC in the QuadrigaCX-linked addresses, but “nil.” Ernst & Young’s report comes just days after James Edwards, an independent blockchain researcher, noted that 649,708 Ether, valued at over $100 million at their transfer date, left the exchange’s Ethereum wallets for user accounts on Bitfinex and Poloniex in December 2018, just days before founder Gerald Cotten died.
  • Crypto Startup Circle Looking To Secure $250 Million: According to an exclusive report from business media resource The Information, which cited a person familiar with exclusive information, Circle is looking to get a nine-figure cheque for some of its equity and debt. Insiders told the outlet that the world-renowned cryptocurrency startup, backed by Wall Street powerhouse Goldman Sachs, is looking for $250 million in this latest round, which remains unannounced to the public audience. While this is unconfirmed hearsay, analysts claim that more likely than not, this deal is likely in the works. In an interview, technology entrepreneur Jeremy Allaire of the company noted that his company is seeking alternative capital raising structures.
  • France May Ban Privacy-Centric Cryptocurrencies: Forbes reports that the Finance Committee of France’s National Assembly has overtly claimed that it would be appropriate to ban all digital assets focused on providing greater anonymity to its users, including Monero and ZCash. The regulator cites the fact that this subset of cryptocurrencies can pose a heightened risk of money laundering, among other crimes.
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Published at Sat, 09 Mar 2019 18:52:19 +0000

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Take Two: SEC to Review Its Bitcoin ETF Decision

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has announced that it will review its decision regarding the Winklevoss twins’ bitcoin ETF.

SEC to Review Its bitcoin ETF Decision

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) will review its decision regarding the rejection of the bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF) proposed by Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss.

A statement issued by the SEC in response to a petition for review of the Disapproval Order by the Bats BZX Exchange reads:

[…] it is hereby: ORDERED that the petition of BZX for review of the Division’s action to disapprove the proposed rule change by delegated authority be GRANTED; and It is further ORDERED that any party or other person may file a statement in support of or in opposition to the action made pursuant to delegated authority on or before May 15, 2017.

The SEC first rejected the bitcoin ETF (COIN) proposed by the Winklevoss twins last month, citing risk of fraud and a lack of regulation in the bitcoin markets. The statement in which the SEC rejected the COIN EFT reads:

As discussed further below, the Commission is disapproving this proposed rule change because it does not find the proposal to be consistent with Section 6(b)(5) of the Exchange Act, which requires, among other things, that the rules of a national securities exchange be designed to prevent fraudulent and manipulative acts and practices and to protect investors and the public interest.

The petition filed by the Bats BZX Exchange will see the SEC’s action to disapprove the bitcoin ETF reviewed and possibly amended. If so, COIN ETF shares would be traded on a public stock exchange, providing an easy way for investors to capitalize on the price of BTC without the need to deal with Bitcoin exchanges, wallets, private keys, and so forth.

Winklevoss Chose Bats Exchange For a Reason

As noted by Blockchain researcher and host of the Crypto Scam podcast, Tone Vays, ‎in a 2016 interview, it is very likely that the Winklevoss twins chose to work with the Bats BZX Exchange on the COIN ETF for this very reason. 

Vays

“My guess is the reason that they changed is that Bats is the new kid on the block, so they push the issues a bit,” Vays explained. 

Not only does it make sense for the Winklevoss twins to identify with the Bats BZX Exchange due to the “experimental” nature of the COIN ETF, but it is also a great strategic move that ensured the exchange they partnered with would help them fight to see the bitcoin ETF approved.

Vays continued:

Nasdaq might not have been helping the Winklevoss fight against the SEC to get this approved and maybe Batz said ‘you know what, we’ll throw your lawyers at it’.

The Saga So Far

The Winklevoss’ bid to see a bitcoin exchange-traded fund on public stock exchanges is a saga that has been going on for roughly three years. It started with the filling of an S-1 form for the Winklevoss bitcoin Trust in May 2014.

Twins

The Winklevoss bitcoin Trust was based on the twins’ substantial bitcoin holdings (roughly 1% of the total supply at the time) and had Math-Based Asset Services LLC as the sponsor of the Trust. Later that year, a follow-up filling was made in order list the Winklevoss bitcoin Trust as an ETF on the NASDAQ OMX exchange with the name “COIN.”

Two years later, in June 2016, the twins filed a document that would see the ETF listed on the Bats exchanged instead of Nasdaq. The same filing also saw the ETF offering increase from $20 to $65 million.

Last month, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) denied the Winklevoss Twins’ bitcoin ETF, which lead to the petition by the Batz BZX Exchange.

Do you think that the Winklevoss bitcoin ETF will be approved after the SEC’s revision? If so, let us know why in the comments below.

Images courtesy of Shutterstock

The post Take Two: SEC to Review Its Bitcoin ETF Decision appeared first on Bitcoinist.com.

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