Author: Editorial Office CVJ.CH

Cryptocurrencies in general and Bitcoin in particular are no longer an insider’s tip, no longer an aloof investment vehicle for a few, risk-loving super-rich. Anyone can install a wallet from the APP store within minutes and load Crypto onto it. This is being done more often as distrust of Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies lessens. This applies to your customers too. Using inapay, you can quickly accept Bitcoin and other cryptocurrency payments in your shop. “With inapay, it was really a one-stop solution: it was easy to implement and introduce into our workflows. Being a first-mover or early adopter, you want…

How will blockchain technology affect our lives? Can digital currencies establish themselves as an asset class? The questions that arise in the world of crypto seem limitless. We limit ourselves to five and turn to experts in the field. The development in the blockchain and cryptocurrency space as well as the rapidly growing ecosystem around the new technology is fascinating. Behind it are people who believe in this innovation from the bottom of their hearts. People with a pronounced passion for the field, contagious enthusiasm and entrepreneurial spirit. In the CVJ.CH format “5 questions”, prominent and respected specialists and entrepreneurs…

Project Helvetia, an experiment between the Bank for International Settlements (BIS), the Swiss National Bank (SNB) and the financial market infrastructure operator SIX, plans to integrate tokenized assets into existing payment systems. Project Helvetia has, in a real-world environment, demonstrated that it is possible to provide central bank money to settle securities transactions using new technologies. Not only is it possible to interconnect existing systems, but a new type of central bank money – a wholesale digital central bank currency (CBDC) – could also be issued. Digital Swiss franc The BIS Innovation Hub has said that Project Helvetia (clearing tokenized…

21Shares, a Switzerland-based investment product provider, is launching the world’s first exchange traded product (ETP) for the cryptocurency Polkadot (DOT). The Polkadot ETP (PDOT) will list on the Swiss SIX Exchange on Thursday. 21Shares AG, an issuer of crypto Exchange Traded Products (ETPs) is launching the world’s first Polkadot ETP (ADOT SW – CH0593331561 – PDOT) “DOT ETP” on the regulated segment of the Swiss stock exchange (SIX Exchange) on Thursday February 4th, 2021. Last Friday, Polkadot was admitted by the Index Provider to the 21Shares HODL basket ETP as second-largest constituent after Bitcoin (BCH being removed) and as such,…

A summarizing review of what has been happening at the crypto markets of the past week. A look at trending sectors, liquidity, volatility, spreads and more. The weekly report in cooperation with market data provider Kaiko. The last 7 days in the cryptomarkets: Price Movements: Bitcoin soared double digits after Elon Musk changed his Twitter bio to #Bitcoin, highlighting the power of social media to move markets. Trading Volume: The proportion of total Ethereum trades denominated in U.S. dollars has doubled over the past 5 months, which suggests an influx of new traders. Order Book Liquidity: Price slippage for ETH-USD…

The Crypto Finance Group announced that its brokerage subsidiary has been granted a securities house licence by FINMA. The licence will allow the Crypto Finance Group to begin offering new products and serviceswhich will all meet the standards warranted by prudential regulatory oversight. Crypto Broker AG, the Crypto Finance Group brokerage, has been granted a licence as a securities house with a bilateral trading facility by FINMA, the Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority. The licence is recognition of the group’s consistently professional approach to crypto asset trading, liquidity provision, and innovation in financial services. “Getting the securities house licence for…

With the adoption of the DLT law today, SEBA Bank is issuing its Series B Participation Certificates as tokenized equity securities on the Ethereum blockchain. The Equity Tokens will be issued and held within SEBA’s own banking-grade digital custody in a FINMA regulated environment. SEBA Bank, a FINMA licenced Swiss Bank, today announced it is issuing its Series B equity to its shareholders as security tokens on the Blockchain. With this industry-leading capability, they are now able to offer a new standard of security, efficiency and flexibility in Digital Corporate Finance and Asset Tokenization capabilities. SEBA is actively engaging with…

Bitcoin USD daily basis Bitcoin USD Chart Analysis – Continued Consolidation with Lower Highs At the beginning of the reporting week, we saw a continuation of the consolidation phase above the 30’000 level. This is a level that is emerging as a support zone since the correction initiated since the all-time high was reached. On Monday, trading started at around USD 32’000. The high reached during the day at 34’962 could not be held and so the Bitcoin price closed at the same level of the previous day. The created classic “Gravestone Doji” seemed to unsettle some market participants on…

Hester M. Peirce is an American attorney specializing in financial market regulation. Peirce is currently a commissioner at the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). A discussion about cryptocurrencies and their compliance requirements in the United States. A lot has happened in the regulatory area around cryptocurrencies in the last year. After a long period of restraint, authoritative legal foundations around digital assets have emerged, particularly in the USA. For example, U.S. banks received permission from the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) to hold digital assets for their customers, as well as to use private stablecoins for payment…

A broad front of opposition is growing against FinCEN’s latest regulatory proposal regarding KYC/AML rules for digital assets. Opponents say the rules would destroy many of the benefits of the technology and create new, centralized data collection points. An overview. The U.S. Treasury Department under Steve Mnuchin proposed strict KYC rules for cryptocurrencies in December that go far beyond the current ones. It wants to force exchanges to verify the identity of wallet holders when a transaction to a self-hosted wallet exceeds $3’000. In addition, the agency has asked digital exchanges to submit personal information of wallet owners, including their…

A summarizing review of what has been happening at the crypto markets of the past week. A look at trending sectors, liquidity, volatility, spreads and more. The weekly report in cooperation with market data provider Kaiko. The last 7 days in the cryptomarkets: Price Movements: As Bitcoin (BTC) suffered steep losses, Ethereum (ETH) and several altcoins reached new all time highs, a divergence from typical market behavior. Trading Volume: As Ethereum reached a new all-time high its trading volume actually surpassed that of Bitcoin for a brief moment. In general, trading sizes have increased over the past months – a…

What has been happening around Blockchain Technology and Cryptocurrencies this week? The most relevant local and international developments as well as appealing background reports in a pointed and compact way in retrospect in our weekly review. The world’s largest asset manager, BlackRock Inc, has filed two applications with the SEC seeking access to the crypto market for select funds of the provider. In specific, the filing is regarding bitcoin derivatives with the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME). A month ago, Chief Investment Officer (CIO) Rick Rieder already called bitcoin “digital gold,” citing strong demand from BlackRock clients. Unlike the world’s largest…

Decentralized Finance (DeFi) is one of the most expansive sectors in the crypto space. So-called “wrapped tokens” are an important DeFi building block. They allow cross-blockchain transactions. An overview of the interoperability project Ren in an interview with COO Michael Burgess. Ren is an open protocol that enables the fluid movement of value between blockchains (interoperability). Its core product, RenVM, brings interoperability to decentralized finance (DeFi). Ren was founded in 2017 and is headquartered in Singapore. A $34 million funding round was closed in February 2018, which was followed a year later by the co-founding of WBTC. The REN token…

Ethereum (ETH), the second largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization, touched the all-time high last reached in 2018 on some exchanges before a correction occurred.  Time for a brief overview of the latest developments. While Bitcoin (BTC) has been in price discovery beyond its 2017 all-time high since December, Ether (ETH) has not yet been able to break through the 2017/18 bull market high. Yesterday, the first attempt occurred and the all-time high was reached on some exchanges. Reaching an all-time high after a bear market that lasted more than three years, underscores an ongoing evolution and adoption of a cryptocurrency.…

“Due to many Client inquiries,” strategists at Swiss bank UBS recently expressed their assessment of Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies in general. The bank warns that a total loss is possible, and has a hard time with an assessment of the “fair value”. Last week, the major Swiss bank published a report called “Should I buy Bitcoin?” The UBS Global Wealth Management department does not rule out higher prices in the short term, but the investment experts remain sceptical about the cryptocurrency. They cite regulatory uncertainties as well as the possibility that a “more popular” cryptocurrency could replace Bitcoin in the future.…

A summarizing review of what has been happening at the crypto markets of the past week. A look at trending sectors, liquidity, volatility, spreads and more. The weekly report in cooperation with market data provider Kaiko. The last 7 days in the cryptomarkets: Price Movements: Intraday Bitcoin price movements are becoming more extreme and constant, with hourly returns of +/- 2% occurring nearly every day since mid-December. Trading Volume: The average trade size on Coinbase has doubled since March. Also, Bitcoin markets recorded their highest daily volume ever. Order Book Liquidity: Market depth and spreads recovered more quickly after the…