Sunday Summary: Unchartered Territory
Check out the news that mattered in the cryptocurrency and blockchain space in the Philippines and globally. (Dec. 14 – 20, 2020)
Good morning. What a week that was for the cryptocurrency markets and industry.
Welcome to Sunday Summary, part of our new series: BitPinas Daily. We will look back at all the major news and updates that happened this week. Crypto is global. The markets don’t sleep.
Market Price as of December 19, 2020:
| Bitcoin | $23,849 | 0.2% |
| Ethereum | $658.03 | 0.1% |
| XRP | $0.576 | 0.3% |
| Tether | $0.99 | -0.2% |
| Litecoin | $120.02 | 9.3% |
| SLP | $0.027 | -6.1% |
Bitcoin closed December 17, 2020, at $23,849 per BTC. We’re up 20% in the last 7 days and 228% since the year began. This is the new all-time high. (How many consecutive days are we writing that sentence?)
Bitcoin’s market capitalization stands today at $435,882,338,811 which is 64.8% of the entire cryptocurrency market.
On the table above, there’s the cryptocurrency SLP. If you wonder what that is, check out this article: Playing Axie Infinity vs Minimum Basic Salary in the Philippines.
Philippines: #CryptoPH
We had a good week of crypto news and developments here in the Philippines. As we head on to 2021, please look forward to our 2020 Year in Review, where we interview local crypto and blockchain professionals on what they think of 2020 and what to expect next.
- UnionBank, Standard Chartered trial blockchain-based bond Issuance
- House consolidates Central Bank Digital Currency, E-Payment bills
- Lorne Lantz, founder of Breadcrumbs, an app to track Etherereum transactions has co-written a book while here in Manila. Master Blockchain is now out.
- Gabby Dizon launched his new company Yield Guild Games with the mission of onboarding millions of players around the world into the “play-to-earn” revolution.
- Bloomcast, a weekly show on Facebook Live by BSP-licensed BloomX aired its last episode for 2020. It’s coming back next year.
- There are now 17 Virtual Currency Exchanges in the Philippines. Appsolutely (Loyalcoin) and TopJuan Tech entered while Bitan, Telcoin, and VHCEX exited the list.
- PDAX launches its native mobile app.
- Pac Pay to launch in 2021.
- Bicol-based SparkPoint goes DeFi.
- Counterweight: the case for Bitcoin as central bank reserve asset
Bitcoin
The past week was really about Bitcoin.
- Bitcoin hits new all-time high.
- Stampede of Bitcoin buyers pushed BTC past $20k, exchange data shows.
- Bitcoin transaction fees doubled this week.
- MicroStrategy completes $650 million debt offering to fund bitcoin buys.
- Fidelity’s CEO said its custody business around bitcoin has been incredibly successful.
- CNBC host Jim Kramer said his Bitcoin portfolio is getting bigger.
- PayPal stock has surged 17% since enabling Bitcoin purchases.
- More billion-dollar firms buying Bitcoin.
- Bitcoin whale emerges with $1 billion, Alan Howard’s backing.
- Guggenheim’s Scott Minerd says Bitcoin should be worth $400,000.
- JPMorgan says MassMutual’s Bitcoin foray signals widening demand.
- “No excuse for institutions now;” said Maxime Boonen, B2C2’s founder, after his company was acquired by SBI Holdings.
- Bitcoin is ‘more religion than solution’ says Billionaire Mark Cuban.
- The bidding war for bitcoin mining hardware is heating up.
Ethereum, DeFi and NFT
- CME group announces Ethereum futures product.
- Vitalik said don’t take out personal loans to buy crypto.
- DeFi Game Aavegotchi prepares for mainnet launch on Jan. 4.
- Compound’s new blockchain readies DeFi for central bank digital currencies.
- Digital artist Beeple sold $582,000 of crypto art in 5 minutes.
- Nexus Mutual founder’s personal wallet address gets attacked.
- Microsoft and Ernst &Young LLP (EY) plan to use blockchain to allow Xbox gaming partners, artists, and creators to track and manage royalty contracts and payments.
- Morgan Stanley’s head of digital asset markets says DeFi is poised to keep its momentum in 2021.
- The Graph launches open blockchain API network
- Aave holders vote to further decentralized governance.
- A lifetime in 24 tweets: the rise of Inverse.Finance
- DeFi’s new rally
Stablecoin and CBDCs
- The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC), which is the U.S. banking regulator said in a recent paper that fintech banks and stablecoin issuers are “encouraged to reach their full potential by coming out of the shadows and joining the chartered banking system.”
- China is testing its digital currency in Suzhou. Here’s an early look at the user experience.
- Visa proposes a method for offline digital currency payments.
Industry and Regulation
- US Treasury to apply Bank Secrecy Act Rules to crypto wallets.
- The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) has proposed new rules requiring banks and money service businesses (MSBs) to submit reports, keep records, and verify the identity of customers who are making transactions with unhosted or private wallets
- Privacy advocates react to proposed FinCEN rules..
- Coinbase said it filed to go public.
- FinCEN encourages banks to share customer information with each other.
- Crypto is at ‘a fork in the road,’ OCC leader Brooks says.
- The US Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) heard a presentation about DeFi.
- Mt. Gox Creditors’ wait nearly over as Trustee announces Draft Rehabilitation Plan.
- American express gets in on crypto for institutional investors.
- Seychelles, longtime home of BitMEX is bending to U.S. pressure on KYC.
This article is published on BitPinas: Sunday Summary: Unchartered Territory
