Category: Bitcoin

Big banks in the crypto space

On By mehranmuslimiblogIn Banks, Bitcoin, cryptoLeave a comment

It was inevitable that banks would be unable to resist entering the cryptocurrency space, and more of the biggest US banks are in it than you might think. So, who exactly is taking such a ‘risk’, as the US banking regulator put it?

It seems that Bank of New York Mellon was the first to enter the fray in February 2021 with its offer of holding, transferring and issuing Bitcoin for asset management clients. The clients will be able to store BTC and ETH in BNY Mellon wallets, which have been created in partnership with Fireblocks. The service hasn’t launched yet, but is expected this year.

Bancorp’s Bitcoin custody service went live in October 2021, with NYDIG, a Bitcoin company, acting as sub-custodian for the bank. And State Street Corp said in March this year that it intends to offer crypto custody services in partnership with infrastructure platform Copper.co. This, according to the bank, is subject to regulatory approval.

Deutsche Bank is planning to develop a service to hold and trade crypto for institutional investors, and has already completed a proof of concept, although it is keeping this move very quiet indeed. Similarly, BNP Paribas has also completed a proof of concept with wallet provider Curv. The plan is to develop a secure method to transfer tokenised securities.

Wealth Management Clients

Banks have been rushing to offer their wealth management clients exposure to crypto, starting back in 2021. Morgan Stanley is the pack leader, according to CNBC. It reported in March this year that Morgan Stanley is enabling access to three Bitcoin funds for clients with at least $2 million in assets held at the bank.

JPMorgan Chase is allowing its financial advisers to accept buy/sell orders for five crypto products from its wealth management clients, and Wells Fargo has been offering something similar since 2021. Indeed, both JPMorgan and Wells Fargo have registered private Bitcoin funds with NYDIG.

Citigroup now has a digital assets group, and Goldman Sachs is offering wealthy clients access to an Ethereum fund via Galaxy Digital.

Trading and Research

You will find the same names in trading. Goldman rebooted its crypto trading desk in March 2021, and in March this year became the first US bank to carry out an over-the-counter crypto trade in partnership with Galaxy Digital.

The big banks are also putting a lot of money into research, particularly Bank of America, Citicorp and Morgan Stanley, with all of them creating new departments and opening up new job roles.

And there you have it – big banks aren’t really as crypto-averse as you might have thought.

Bitcoin rises again

On By mehranmuslimiblogIn Altcoins, Bitcoin, cryptoLeave a comment

It’s a good week for Bitcoin and altcoins. Finally, there has been a reversal of fortunes and the bears have retreated, at least for the moment. What sparked the about turn of the bearish trend that has dominated the market since the beginning of the year?

The world’s largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization is up 15% over the past week, although it has been outshone a little by Ethereum (up 16%) and Solana (up 25%) over the same period of time. This is not bad news for Bitcoin, as the rise in the altcoin sector shows that an appetite for risk has returned.

According to Coindesk, “the recent rally in bitcoin can be explained by new token accumulation, which is unique to the crypto market.” This refers to the purchase of more than 27,000 BTC worth roughly $1.3 billion by the Luna Foundation Guard (LFG). It promised that it would add BTC as an additional layer of security for UST, which is Terra’s decentralized dollar-pegged stablecoin.

Lucas Otumuro, head of research at IntoTheBlock, a crypto data company, told Coindesk that he believes there “appears to be a synergy between Bitcoin and the Terra ecosystem.” He went on to say, “UST benefits from having additional backing and bitcoin benefits not just from the buying pressure, but also from having a stable medium of exchange backed by BTC.”

But there is more to Bitcoin’s rebound than the purchase by LFG. The recent price bounce appears to be driven by demand in the spot market, which typically occurs around market turning points. There has been a rise in spot BTC volume versus futures volume, and an uptick in bitcoin trading volume across major exchanges. What we need to watch out for is a sudden capitulation to a sell-off. At this moment, an increase in buy volume versus sell volume could determine if the price rally has staying power. Thankfully, according to data from CryptoQuant there is a slight increase in the buy/sell volume ratio over the past week, which indicates bullish sentiment among Bitcoin traders.

We may see some corrections as the week progresses and Bitcoin aims to get past $48,000, but for now we are happy enough to enjoy Bitcoin’s fightback.

Consumers want banks to offer crypto

On By mehranmuslimiblogIn Altcoins, Banks, Bitcoin, cryptoLeave a comment

The crypto market saw a sudden uplift on 15th March, following a few days of sideways trading. According to Ron Shevlin at Forbes, Biden’s recent executive order regarding the responsible development of digital assets helped lift the price of Bitcoin, Ethereum, and other cryptocurrencies.

Ari Redford, Head of Legal and Government Affairs at TRM Labs, offered Shevlin a neat opinion about its effects: “The executive order is really a call for coordination—playing quarterback to ensure that regulators are working together to feed into a clear and consistent framework for crypto regulation rather than engage in disparate work streams.”

This is important for traditional banks, and it should encourage them to engage with cryptocurrencies. They would be foolish not to do that, since many Americans are demanding to be able to purchase crypto directly from their bank, rather than use a crypto exchange.

For example, a very recent survey by Cornerstone Advisors conducted in February 2022 found that “one in five American adults hold some form of cryptocurrency.” The generations that favour crypto are Millennials and GenZ, with Gen X trailing a bit behoind, and the Boomers solidly rejecting the idea of crypto.

Twenty-five percent of Gen Zers already own crypto and 29% plan to buy it within 12 months. Thirty percent of Millennials already own it and 27% will buy it this year. Furthermore, among the Gen Zers and Millennials with crypto, 40% bought or sold it five or more times in 2021.

With regard to banks, the survey revealed that around 50% of Americans that already own crypto would “definitely use a bank to invest in crypto if they could, with another 42% indicating that might do so.”

But banks don’t seem to be getting this message. Shevlin writes: “According to Cornerstone Advisors’ What’s Going On in Banking 2022 study, just 1% of US banks provided cryptocurrency investing or trading services before this year.” What is more, only 1 in 10 American banks plan to offer a crypto service in 2022. It seems that although regulators are trying to make it easier for the banks to become involved, bankers are still tied to their old views.

One senior bank exec told Cornerstone:

“Why are there more cryptocurrencies than US banks and credit unions combined? When is the consolidation and fallout going to occur?”

While another said: “Cryptocurrencies aren’t stable enough to be a legit payment mechanism as the value could fluctuate during the transaction. Instead of pushing crypto ATMs and ways to create your own currencies, it would be great to see more focus on how to solve issues like unaffordable housing and the student loan.”

It seems he’s missing the point, and indeed, the demand. Although nt all of them are so blinkered. One banker actually sounded positive, commenting, “We need to accept that cryptocurrency is here and start planning TODAY on how to approach this and not wait until it’s too late and we’re reacting versus planning.”

We know that banks are risk averse, and have consistently issued warnings about the risks they see with crypto, but it would seem that based on the consumer view, the biggest risk to the banks is not getting involved with cryptocurrencies at all.

Bretton Woods III: a new world monetary order

On By mehranmuslimiblogIn Bitcoin, Economy, GovernmentsLeave a comment

In 1944, as WWII was coming to an end, the Bretton Woods system of monetary management was established. It set the rules for financial relations between countries, for their central banks and governments. It also created the IMF, the World Bank and WTO. This week, Zoltan Pozsar, Credit Suisse’s short-term interest rate strategist, published a note about a new world monetary order, which he called the “birth of Bretton Woods III”.

In his words, he see this as, “a new world (monetary) order centered around commodity-based currencies in the East that will likely weaken the eurodollar system and also contribute to inflationary forces in the West.” What does that mean for us? And what part might cryptocurrencies play in it?

Bretton Woods I was based on a gold-based system where the U.S. dollar dominated and was freely convertible into gold. This changed dramatically in 1971 when the US had to change its currency, “so that the dollar was free-floating and backed by the full faith and credit of the government,” not gold.

Bretton Woods II then became the model. In this, the dollar still dominated, but in a system that mostly uses “inside money.” Inside money is someone else’s liability, while outside money is nobody’s liability. This is why we have a system that is largely based on debt. For example, when China holds US Treasury bonds that is inside money. When Russia sells USD to buy gold, that is outside money. It makes things pretty complicated when you factor in the full package of economic sanctions against Russia, and add in the fact that China holds massive amounts of seizable, U.S.-based inside money. It could sell its US Treasury bonds to “fund the purchase of “subprime” Russian commodities,” writes George Kaloudis in Coindesk, but it would also give China control over inflation. Such a move could also lead to commodity shortages and a recession in the West.

Pozsar’s note suggests there is a “new confiscation risk associated with US inside money,” that could spark a new monetary regime, as the world turns to focus on outside money, such as gold and other commodities, as countries try to boost their reserves. Or they might turn to cryptocurrencies, particularly Bitcoin.

At the end of his note, Pozsar wrote, “After this war is over, “money” will never be the same again…

…and Bitcoin (if it still exists then) will probably benefit from all this.”