Do repost and rate:
Get your daily, bite-sized digest of cryptoasset and blockchain-related news – investigating the stories flying under the radar of today’s crypto news.
Investments news
- MicroStrategy CEO Michael Saylor said that his company purchased another BTC 2,574 bitcoins for USD 50m in cash, at an average price of approximately USD 19,427 per BTC. After this third BTC purchase, the company said it owns approximately BTC 40,824.
- Vertical Ventures said it has received preliminary approval for the company's share to continue trading on the Nasdaq First North Growth Market after a reverse acquisition of Arcane Crypto. The first day of trading in the share under the new name, Arcane Crypto AB, is estimated for mid-January 2021.
- Union Bank of the Philippines (UnionBank), in partnership with Standard Chartered Bank, said it completed a proof of concept for the issuance of a retail bond on a digital platform leveraging blockchain technology for bond tokenization. The 3 and 5.25-year dual-tranche issuance totaling PHP 9bn (USD 187m) by UnionBank was mirrored on the platform co-created by UnionBank and SC Ventures, the innovation and ventures arm of Standard Chartered.
CBDCs news
- The digital yuan is set to leave the Chinese mainland for the first time as part of pilot trade deals, after the Hong Kong central bank, the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) agreed to work further with the Beijing-run People’s Bank of China (PBoC) on digital RMB testing. In an official release, the HKMA’s Chief Executive Eddie Yue claimed that the digital RMB could be used to make cross-border payments as part of the tests, writing that the token “will certainly offer an additional payment option to those in Hong Kong and the Mainland who need to make” cross-border deals.
- The Chinese online retailing giant JD.com’s Suzhou branch has added a digital yuan payment option ahead of a second PBoC-led electronic RMB giveaway. Per Leiphone, digital yuan recipients will be able to use their handouts online for the first time thanks to the JD.com move. Some USD 1.52m worth of the digital currency will be given away in “lucky” red envelopes, with a fortunate 50,000 Suzhou residents set to receive gifts in a promotional, city-wide draw.
Regulation news
- There is strong support across the G7 countries on the need to regulate digital currencies, according to a readout from a Treasury spokesperson on Secretary Steven Mnuchin’s discussion with G7 finance ministers and central bank governors. Ministers and governors reiterated support for the G7 joint statement on digital payments issued in October, it added.
Exchanges news
- Bittrex Global announced that it will be listing tokenized stocks on its digital asset exchange in cooperation with DigitalAssets.AG. This product will allow traders and investors direct access to listed companies without having to use an external broker, they said in an emailed press release.
- This year, BISON, Boerse Stuttgart Group’s crypto app, said it reached a trading volume of EUR 1bn (USD 1.21bn), while the number of active users has grown by 180% to around 206,000. On several days in November 2020, BISON set new records for trading volumes exceeding EUR 35m, they added.
- The South Korean police have pressed fraud charges against the crypto exchange Coinbit’s chairman and two unnamed executives, per Newspim. The country’s prosecution service is now preparing its case, with multiple allegations of market manipulation leveled at the executives. The platform has enjoyed a successful 2020, placing behind just market leaders Upbit and Bithumb in the transaction volume charts this year. However, police believe the company’s execs may have attempted market manipulation on multiple occasions, and may also have fabricated trading records.
