Crypto nuggets today:
Nugget #1: Goldman Sachs Launches New Bitcoin Derivatives
A large American investment bank Goldman Sachs has provided its clients with new derivatives for bitcoin. These are forward contracts without physical delivery. These are contracts between two participants, the expiration date of which is set for a certain period. In this case, the participants receive profit (or loss) when the asset price deviates from the contract price. The new forwards are tied to the bitcoin rate, allowing Goldman Sachs clients to speculate on the BTC rate. There is no question of any physical delivery of bitcoins. However, as the bank's CEO David Solomon said earlier, the bank does not plan to launch investment products with physical delivery of cryptocurrencies. Contracts are settled in US dollars. At the same time, Goldman Sachs "protects itself from the famous volatility of cryptocurrencies by buying Bitcoin futures on the CME exchange with the help of trading partner Cumberland DRW." The launch of Bitcoin forwards on the Goldman Sachs platform took place last month, but was not advertised. We remind that earlier it was announced about the intention of the investment bank to launch such investment products, but the launch date was unknown.
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Nugget #2: Turkish exchanges will report cryptocurrency transactions in excess of $ 1200
The Ministry of Finance of Turkey will oblige cryptocurrency exchanges to report to the Financial Crime Investigation Council (MASAK) about all cryptocurrency transactions worth more than 10,000 Turkish lira (about $ 1,200). This was stated by the Minister of Finance and Treasury of Turkey Lutfi Elvan (Lütfi Elvan). He explained that the Central Bank of Turkey does not consider cryptocurrencies as monetary assets, so the use of digital currencies to pay for goods and services is prohibited in the country. Regulators have toughened their stance against the cryptocurrency industry due to the increased incidence of fraud. So, in April, Turkish law enforcement agencies arrested several employees of the Vebitcoin exchange. In the same month, the founder of the Turkish trading platform Thodex fled the country, taking all the assets, so the exchange was forced to shut down. The Turkish Ministry of Finance has empowered MASAK to oversee the activities of cryptocurrency exchanges operating in the country. MASAK has already prepared a guide that includes the regulatory requirements that exchanges must comply with. In addition, penalties are provided for failure to report on cryptocurrency transactions. “Now cryptocurrency platforms are obliged to share information about their active users with MASAK.
The management of the exchanges is responsible for any suspicious activity on their platforms. The exchanges are obliged to notify the department of all cryptocurrency transactions in the amount of more than 10,000 Turkish lira within 10 days after such transactions, ”said the Minister of Finance of Turkey. He added that the bill was developed jointly with the Banking Regulation and Supervision Agency (BRSA), the Capital Markets Council of Turkey and the country's Tax Service. When developing the regulation, the opinions of various experts and local participants in the cryptocurrency industry were taken into account. Experts believe that Turkey should develop clear regulation of cryptocurrencies and their taxation as soon as possible in order to protect users from threats related to digital assets. According to Elvan, the final version of the bill will be submitted for approval to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in the near future.
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Nugget #3: Governor of the Bank of England: "buy cryptocurrencies if you are not afraid to lose everything"
Bank of England Governor Andrew Bailey, known for his dislike of cryptocurrencies, said that investing in cryptoassets should only be for those who are not afraid of losing everything. During a press conference on Thursday, Bailey emphasized that digital assets alone are worthless: “I'm afraid cryptocurrencies have no intrinsic value. This means that people do not put any value into their creation. They can be judged externally. But they have no inner one. " Also, the Governor of the Bank of England said that he does not like to combine the words "crypto" and "currency". In his opinion, it is necessary to use "more neutral" terms such as "cryptoasset". Back in the spring of last year, Bailey said that investors need to be prepared to lose all investments when buying bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies. In his opinion, a sufficiently stable digital currency has not yet been created that would be worthy of investment. But the Governor of the Bank of England has a much more positive attitude to stablecoins , as he considers them to be secured. At the same time, the department which he leads has been studying the possibility of issuing its own digital currency since last summer, and in the middle of last month a special working group was assembled on this matter . She will coordinate research on the release of the UK government cryptocurrency and assess the risks of this project.
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Nugget #4: Citigroup May Launch Cryptocurrency Trading and Storage
Banking giant Citigroup is considering options to launch digital asset trading and custody services. This is due to a significant increase in demand for such services, which are also of interest to other large banks. Citigroup's global head of foreign exchange and exchange, Itay Tuchman, said that since August last year, the bank's large clients have shown a growing interest in trading cryptocurrencies. “From our point of view, there are several possible options for launching such services, so we are evaluating these options for the best customer satisfaction,” Tuchman said. At the same time, the Citigroup top manager emphasized that the bank is not in a hurry to launch such services. New products will only be launched if management is confident that they are useful and relevant to customers. In addition, you need to make sure that the services will meet all the requirements of the regulators. “I do not have FOMO syndrome, because I believe that cryptocurrencies will remain on the market for a very long time, and now this industry is only in its initial stages. This is not a space race, there is enough space for everyone, ”concluded Itai Tuchman. At the beginning of March this year, the analytical division of Citigroup released a report in which it writes that bitcoin is at a "tipping point" thanks to large institutional investments and an evolving regulatory framework. Other large American banks are already actively developing services for accessing the cryptocurrency market. Morgan Stanley recently launched two bitcoin funds, and JP Morgan is preparing to launch a similar instrument. Goldman Sachs entered the cryptocurrency derivatives market.
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Nugget #5: Central Bank of Iran bans trade in cryptocurrencies mined in other countries
According to local media reports, the Central Bank of Iran has banned the trading of cryptocurrencies mined outside the country to prevent capital outflows. In fact, cryptocurrency trading in Iran is considered illegal. But in 2019, the Iranian government legalized the mining of cryptoassets, recognizing it as one of the industrial sectors. Last fall, Iran allowed the use of digital assets, but only to pay for goods imported from other countries. The Iranian authorities believed that this would help prevent the detrimental effect of US sanctions on the country's economy. However, this week, the Central Bank of Iran introduced a restriction, which can in part be viewed as a "green light" for cryptocurrencies. The Central Bank allowed the use of only those cryptocurrencies that were legally mined in Iran. At the same time, the regulator did not explain how it will be able to track the inflow of "foreign" crypto assets from abroad, and how it intends to prevent them from entering the territory of the state. Experts believe that in this way the Iranian authorities are trying to prevent capital flight from the country in connection with the depreciation of the Iranian rial. From January 2017 to January 2021, the Iranian currency has lost 80% of its value, while Bitcoin has grown almost 40 times over the same period. Lawyer Fatemah Fannizadeh suggested that the current limitation would not apply to individual users. The central bank could impose a complete ban, but banks and financial institutions are allowed to use cryptocurrencies mined in Iran for international payments. Fannizade said this could signal that the state intends to "aggressively distribute Iranian cryptocurrencies," and the actions of the central bank may be aimed at developing cryptocurrency mining in Iran. Recall that in 2020, Iran allowed miners to mine bitcoin at local power plants, subject to certain requirements. In addition, last year the Iranian President instructed the government to update the national strategy for the development of cryptocurrency mining and reflect this in the legislation.
Nugget Price Analysis
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Trading Analysis of prices for BTC, ETH, XRP (05/07/21)
BTC / USD
Yesterday morning, the BTC price was in a narrow sideways range, and in the afternoon, buyers again tried to break above the resistance of 58000.00 USD. This time, the rally was not supported by a large buyer, and in the afternoon the bears pushed the price back below the 2-hour EMA55.
The bearish momentum was strong enough, but over the past night the pair recovered to the mid-price area, trying to stay in consolidation.
This morning, there is pressure from sellers and the price of bitcoin may roll back to the POC line ($ 54,980). If this support level fails to stop the bears, then the pullback will reach 54000.00 USD.
In the afternoon, the pair may recover to the resistance of 58000.00 USD.
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ETH / USD
Yesterday the bulls were able to continue their growth to the level of 3600.00 USD and renewed the absolute maximum around the level of 3610.00 USD. In the afternoon, the pair started to decline, but met support at 3400.00 USD. Today bears may break this support and bring the pair back below the average price level.
If the two-hour moving average EMA55 does not keep the pair from falling, then the bears may test the lower border of the blue ascending channel.
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XRP / USD
Yesterday's unsuccessful attempt to break through the orange resistance of 1.690 USD ended with the XRP price pulling back below the 2-hour EMA55 level.
Until this morning, the pair is still somehow trying to stay in the area of average prices, but if the bears intensify the onslaught, they will test the support of 1.500 USD. A breakout of this key level will lead to a pullback to the POC line ($ 1.383).
On the other hand, if the price holds above the purple support of one and a half dollars per coin , then by the end of this week the bulls' attack on the resistance of 1.690 USD will be repeate.