Crypto spot trading volumes drop as PayPal and Deutsche Bank bolster crypto offerings
Data from CryptoCompare shows that the price of the flagship cryptocurrency Bitcoin (BTC) moved steadily up throughout the week, starting it at around $25,500 and surpassing $27,000 today.
Ethereum’s Ether, the second-largest digital asset by market capitalisation, moved in a similar way, starting the week at around $1,600 and steadily moving upward throughout it, to now trade at $1,650. BTC notably outperformed ETH.
Headlines in the cryptocurrency space over the past week focused on the growing number of cryptocurrency-related offerings appearing on the market. Germany’s largest lender, Deutsche Bank has, for example, formed a strategic partnership with Swiss-based crypto safekeeping firm Taurus to launch digital asset custody and tokenization services.
Meanwhile, digital payments titan PayPal announced the launch of more cryptocurrency services through the introduction of a cryptocurrency off-ramp, which will allow users in the United States to convert their crypto to US dollars directly from their wallets.
The move comes after PayPal launched an on-ramp allowing users in the country to buy digital assets directly from their platform through integrations with MetaMask and Ledger. These services are being launched at a time in which spot trading volumes on centralized exchanges have been dropping.
Volumes have been dropping over a number of factors, which include the regulatory scrutiny cryptocurrency trading platforms have been dealing with. Earlier this year, both the SEC and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission took legal actions against Binance, its US subsidiary Binance.US, and co-founder Changpeng “CZ” Zhao.
Binance.US reduced its workforce by approximately a third, translating to a loss of 100 job positions. The move was accompanied by the departure of its CEO Brian Shroder. Meanwhile, Coinbase’s CEO Brian Armstrong has defended decentralized finance protocols and should consider legal proceedings in court to establish a legal precedent.
Fed Vice Chair: CBDC decision a ‘long way off’
Over the week, Federal Reserve Vice Chairman Michael Barr revealed that the United States is currently far from making a decision on the potential launch of a Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC), as the central bank is still doing “basic research” on it.
Barr spoke at an event in Philadelphia and emphasized the Federal Reserve’s stance and said the regulator is still a “long way” from deciding on the next steps when it comes to the development of payment systems.
The Federal Reserve was still exploring the “system architecture” and “tokenization models” for a possible CBDC, he said, and clarified that even after finishing the research, any significant action towards launching a CBDC would need support from the executive branch and approval from Congress.
Meanwhile, EU lawmakers have recently voiced their support for the eighth iteration of the Directive on Administrative Cooperation (DAC8), a cryptocurrency tax reporting rule. DAC8’s objective is to empower tax authorities to track and assess all cryptocurrency transactions – from organizations or individuals – within member states.
While the EU is moving forward with the tax reporting rule for cryptocurrencies, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has announced it charged Stoner Cats 2 for allegedly conducting an unregistered offering of crypto asset securities in the form of non-fungible tokens (NFTs).
Despite the current regulatory environment, asset management behemoth Franklin Templeton has filed an application with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for a spot Bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF), making it the latest Wall Street giant to enter the spot Bitcoin ETF race.
FTX gets court approval to sell and invest $3.4 billion in crypto
Collapsed cryptocurrency exchange FTX was this week granted permission by the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware to sell and invest its cryptocurrency holdings, valued at over $3 billion, to settle its debt with creditors.
Judge John Dorsey greenlit the request, sidestepping two previously raised significant reservations about the approach. The value of FTX’s cryptocurrency assets is believed to exceed $3.4 billion.
This ruling permits FTX to sell, stake, and hedge its digital assets. A lawyer speaking on behalf of the FTX customers’ ad hoc committee supported the plan, while a representative for the unsecured creditors indicated that all stakeholders were keen to fast-track the procedure.
The potential sale has negatively affected Solana’s price, which is a major holding of the FTX estate. According to court filings, the exchange holds $1.16 billion in Solana and $560 million in BTC, along with other digital assets.
Francisco Memoria is a content creator at CryptoCompare who’s in love with technology and focuses on helping people see the value digital currencies have. His work has been published in numerous reputable industry publications. Francisco holds various cryptocurrencies.
Featured image via Unsplash.