Markets
The Senate votes to end the SEC’s controversial cryptocurrency custody policy. See why everyone hates SAB 121 – DL News
- The SEC’s SAB 121 accounting guidance has infuriated crypto supporters.
- But why did senators, investors and banking sector defenders attack it?
On Thursday, the Senate will vote in a resolution to revoke controversial accounting guidance from the Securities and Exchange Commission, which critics say has dissuaded investment banks from offering large-scale crypto custody.
The block reported There apparently is enough bipartisan support to see the measure passed.
This will please a range of interests – policymakers, investment banks, cryptocurrency investors and cryptocurrency skeptics – who often agree on very little.
Everyone would like to see the SEC staff’s Accounting Bulletin 121, known as SAB 121, scrapped, saying the guidance forces banks to treat crypto differently than other assets.
“Even I think rewriting the rules for how crypto custody works is outrageous,” said Sean Tuffy, a banking regulation expert and self-confessed crypto skeptic. DL News.
So what is SAB 121 and why is there so much anger surrounding a mysterious banking compliance issue?
Losing ETFs
Let’s look at exchange-traded funds to understand the impact of SAB 121.
ETF issuers pay depositories, often banks, to safeguard the fund’s underlying asset.
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BNY Mellon, JPMorgan and State Street have large custody businesses in the US.
So why, when it comes to spot Bitcoin ETFs, are none of these names involved? If you look at the bottoms prospectsyou will see Coinbase, Gemini, BitGo, and Fidelity listed as custodians.
This is due, at least in part, to SAB 121, a “de facto crypto custody rule that actually excluded custodians,” Tuffy said.
The second Published SAB 121 in March 2022. Advises any entity that secures crypto assets on behalf of others to place them on its balance sheet as if it owns them.
They don’t need to do this with traditional assets like stocks.
Like other too-big-to-fail banks, depositors must hold capital reserves to offset risky balance sheet items so that they can finance their positions in the event of default.
Tomorrow, the Senate will vote to repeal SAB-121.
It may be the only thing the crypto and trading industry agrees on.
First, to reiterate, SAB-121 is the rule that the SEC adopted unilaterally, without consulting the industry, that says the following:
Unlike everyone…
-Austin Campbell (@CampbellJAustin) May 16, 2024
This is expensive: the capital they are forced to keep in reserve could be used to generate revenue.
SAB 121 is unclear about how much banks would have to withhold against crypto assets, or whether the SEC would even enforce it – it’s not a rule per se, just high-level guidance.
But the uncertainty alone has deterred a number of big companies – including BNY Mellon, State StreetIt is Nasdaq – to enter this business.
Why is this a problem?
Lawmakers like Republican Mike Flood, who supports the anti-SAB 121 resolution, say excluding experienced and heavily regulated banks from the cryptocurrency custody business puts investors’ assets at risk.
Part of this risk comes from the fact that most of the Bitcoin underlying spot ETFs is concentrated in one vendor. Coinbase handles custody of eight of the 10 ETFs, or about 90% of the Bitcoin in those funds.
“It’s a very strange situation and a good example of how the SEC has gotten a little involved with its all-out legal push against crypto.”
-Sean Tuffy
However, this puts SAB 121 directly at odds with SEC Chairman Gary Gensler’s position that existing regulations are adequate to police crypto markets, Tuffy said.
“If that’s true, and I’m inclined to believe it is, then why would the SEC need to create very different custody rules for crypto?” -Tuffy said.
SAB 121 essentially transfers custody of Bitcoin ETFs to Coinbase, which the SEC is actively prosecuting for violations of securities laws.
“It’s a very strange situation and a good example of how the SEC has gotten a little involved with its all-out legal push against crypto,” said Tuffy.
Pressure to revoke
Gensler appears unwilling to discard SAB 121.
He likely believes this addresses the risks the SEC staff sees in crypto markets – a position reinforced by the huge losses caused by bankruptcies of crypto firms like FTX and Celsius.
But he is under pressure to overturn it, or at least allow the public to have a say in the matter.
The Government Accountability Office, the oversight body of the US Congress, said in October that SAB 121 constitutes a rule and must be submitted to the legal process of public consultation.
And then there is the powerful big banking lobby. Influential trade associations, such as the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association have called investment banks will be excluded from SAB 121.
Gensler, however, has the U.S. President Joe Biden in his corner. Biden said he would veto Flood’s resolution if it passed the Senate.
“Limiting the SEC’s ability to maintain a comprehensive and effective financial regulatory framework for cryptoassets would introduce substantial financial instability and market uncertainty,” Biden said.
Contact the author at joanna@dlnews.com.
Markets
Crypto Markets Rebound as Spot Bitcoin ETFs Attract Massive Inflows
This week saw $722 million worth of Bitcoin spot ETF inflows, including the largest daily inflow in a month.
Cryptocurrency markets rallied on Wednesday, driven by inflows into spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs).
The price of Bitcoin (BTC) is up 3% over the past 24 hours to last change hands at $65,200, according to CoinGecko. Ethereum (ETH) is up 2% and is trading at $3,471. Solana (SUN) and Polkadot (POINT) increased by 4%.
Bitcoin spot ETFs saw $422 million in daily inflows on Tuesday, the highest in the past 30 days, according to Far side data, . The all-time record for a single day was $1.05 billion on March 12.
Among Tuesday’s top contributors, BlackRock’s IBIT led with $260 million in inflows, followed by Fidelity’s FBTC with $61 million. This week has already seen more than $722 million in inflows.
Among the top 100 cryptocurrencies by market cap, Worldcoin (WLD) led with a 28% increase, followed by Helium (HNT) with 20% and Lido DAO (LDO) with 15%.
Worldcoin, a decentralized identity project led by OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, announced is extending the lockups for early investors and team members. This means that tokens will be gradually released through 2029, instead of the original 2027 plan. Token unlocks are generally seen as a negative because they increase supply and early investors can sell their tokens for profit.
Meanwhile, XRP, the token of the XRP Ledger network, jumped 8% after the CME and CF benchmarks introduced new indices and reference rates for XRP.
U.S. stocks faced a downturn on Wednesday. The S&P 500 fell 1%, while the Nasdaq Composite and Dow Jones Industrial Average both fell 2%.
Markets
Altcoins on the cusp of a major breakout – WLD, AR, and INJ prices could surge by 20% in the coming days
Crypto markets appear to have been taken over by the bulls as major tokens have surged above their crucial resistance zone. Bitcoin surged above $65,000 while Ethereum was above $3,500, and XRP, which had remained passive for quite some time, surged over 40% in the past few days to hit $0.6. The uptrend has been captured in most altcoins, with Worldcoin (WLD), Arweave (AR), and Injective (INJ) leading the rally. Here’s what to expect for these tokens in the coming days.
Worldcoin (WLD) Price Analysis
O Worldcoin Price has been trading inside a descending wedge since it marked a new ATH near $12 in the final days of Q1 2024. The recent price action helped the price break out of the upper resistance of the wedge, breaking above the crucial resistance zone between $2.21 and $2.39. Market sentiments have changed, but technicals suggest that the bulls may remain passive for a while, which could offer some room for a bearish pullback.
The price broke out of the wedge with a significant increase in volume, but the current volume suggests that the bulls have taken a step back. Meanwhile, the RSI is about to reach the upper boundary, which could attract bearish forces. Additionally, the DMI has undergone a bullish crossover, but the decline in the ADX suggests that the rally may remain consolidated above the gains. Therefore, the WLD price is expected to maintain a horizontal consolidation between $3 and $3.3 and trigger a fresh rally to $4.4 during the next bullish rally.
Arweave (AR) Price Analysis
Arweave formed a strong base around $25, which helped the rally trigger a recovery during the bearish attack. Mt. Gox and German terror forced the price to fall below $20. However, the recent price action has brought the altcoin within the bullish range and raised expectations of maintaining a decent uptrend for a few more days.
AR price has hit one of the major resistances around $30 to $31.5, which could act as a strong base once overcome. The buying volume is slowly increasing, which could keep the bullish hopes for the rally high. Moreover, the supertrend has just flashed a buy signal, indicating a clean reversal of the trend. Therefore, AR price seems primed to maintain a healthy uptrend and rally above $40. However, if the bulls maintain a similar trend, making new highs above $50 may not be a tedious task for the bulls.
Price Analysis of Injective (INJ)
Injective price has been showing sharp strength since the beginning of the year and hence, the recent turnaround is expected to revive a good uptrend going forward. The bears engulfed the rally to a large extent, but the recent price action suggests that the bulls have regained their dominance. Therefore, INJ price is expected to maintain a strong uptrend with a bearish interference on the way down.
INJ price has surged above the lower support zone and has registered consecutive bullish candles. Although the volume is below the required levels, the OBV is maintaining a sharp uptrend. Furthermore, the Ichimoku cloud lead span B is heading towards the lead span A and a healthy crossover indicates the start of a new uptrend. However, INJ price may be out of the bears’ reach once it secures the resistance zone between $30.77 and $32.12, which seems to be on the horizon.
Markets
Ethereum at $3.5K, Exchange Supply Hits 34-Month High
Ethereum (ETH) supply on exchanges has hit a 34-month high as the asset’s price surpassed the $3,500 mark.
ETH has risen 2.3% over the past 24 hours and is trading at $3,490 at the time of writing. The second-largest cryptocurrency — with a market cap of $419 billion — briefly touched an intraday high of $3,517 earlier today.
ETH Price, Whale Activity, RSI, and Exchange Supply – July 17 | Source: Santiment
Ethereum’s daily trading volume also increased by 7.6% to reach $19.8 billion.
According to data provided by Santiment, the supply of Ethereum on exchanges has reached $19.52 million ETH. This level was last seen in September 2021, when the asset was trading around the same price.
On the other hand, data from the market intelligence platform shows that the number of whale transactions has fallen by 12% in the last day — falling from 8,730 to 7,629 unique transactions per day.
The move shows that the supply of Ethereum on exchanges has been increasing with small deposits rather than large transactions from whales.
Additionally, the ETH Relative Strength Index (RSI) is currently hovering at the 60-mark, per Santiment. The indicator shows that Ethereum is slightly overbought at this price point, but it may not be in a critical position due to its large market cap.
One of the main drivers of Ethereum price increase is ETH spot expectations ETFs in the US Investment products are scheduled to start trading on July 23rd.
Markets
Bits + Beeps: How to Play the ‘Trump Trade’ in Cryptocurrencies After the Assassination Attempt
Also, how much will the Fed cut rates (and when)? What will be the inflows into ETH ETFs? And what is the near future for Bitcoin?
Posted on July 17, 2024 at 12:00 PM EST.
Listen to the episode at Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Capsules, Source, Podcast Addict, Pocket molds, Amazon Musicor on your favorite podcast platform.
In this episode of Bits + Bips, hosts James Seyffart, Alex Kruger and Joe McCann, joined by guest Jack Platts, dive into the market reaction to the recent assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump, analyzing how this event will influence the 2024 US presidential election and the cryptocurrency markets.
They also cover potential rate cuts: Could there be a cut in July? How big could the September rate cut be? Could the decision be influenced by the upcoming election?
They also give their predictions on what percentage of BTC ETF inflows the ETH ETFs will reach, and James talks about what he expects for Grayscale’s ETHE (hint: his outlook would be positive for ETH).
Finally, they delve into what’s next for Bitcoin as the German government runs out of BTC and Mt. Gox distributions begin. Just now?
Program Highlights:
- Whether Trump’s shooting decided the election and whether the event caused a “flight to safety”
- How election markets are becoming a place to watch election probabilities and whether cryptocurrencies “lean right”
- Whether rate cuts will occur in July or September and by how much they will cut: 25 bps or 50 bps
- How Joe sees the relationship between global liquidity cycles, rate cuts, and the potential rise of Bitcoin
- What are the new updates about Ethereum ETFs and their expected launch?
- Why Solana Hasn’t Performed Significantly Better Since Trump News
- What Market Breadth Indicates About the Current Market Rally and the Impact of Rates on Small Caps
- Everyone’s predictions on ETH ETF inflows and how much outflow we’ll see on Grayscale’s ETHE
- What’s Next for BTC After German Government Exits Bitcoin and Mt. Gox Giveaways Starting This Week
Hosts:
Guest:
- Jack PlattsCo-Founder and Managing Partner of Hypersphere Ventures
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