FTX Launches Trading in Apple, Tesla and Amazon Stocks Paired with BTC
The FTX cryptocurrency derivatives exchange has announced the launch of trading in regulated tokenized shares of international companies Apple, Tesla and Amazon, paired with BTC.
The FTX executives announced that the platform will be available to trade Tesla (TSLA), Apple (APPL) and Amazon (AMZN) shares paired with Bitcoin. This opportunity was realized in collaboration with the German investment firm CM-Equity AG and the Swiss asset tokenization firm Digital Assets AG (DAAG). Fractional ownership will allow derivatives to be split into smaller shares, allowing retail traders to speculate in high-value stocks with little capital.
FTX chief executive Sam Bankman-Fried believes that tokenized shares of such large companies will provide more opportunities for ordinary traders. Users are interested in trading both cryptocurrencies and stocks.
MoneyGram payment service received another $ 9.3 million from Ripple in Q3 2020
According to the financial statements of the latter for the third quarter, in this segment it received $ 9.3 million from Ripple. After deducting $ 400,000 in "transaction and trading costs", MoneyGram's net benefit from cooperation with Ripple was $ 8.9 million.
In early 2018, MoneyGram became one of the largest firms to publicly announce its intention to test XRP cryptocurrency in payment services. MoneyGram also said it receives a commission from Ripple for providing liquidity to the On-Demand Liquidity (ODL) network used to make cross-border transfers using XRP.
In 2019, Ripple invested $ 50 million in MoneyGram.In the second quarter of 2020, the company received $ 15.1 million from Ripple for the same services. MoneyGram's net benefit was then lower due to higher trading costs.
MoneyGram CEO Alex Holmes previously said that he or his company does not hold XRP cryptocurrency: "We strive to sell any XRP we receive in a time that is as close to real as possible."
Upbit and Bithumb Trading Volume Down 70% And 63% Since 2018
According to the Financial Supervision Service (FSS) of South Korea, the trading volumes of cryptocurrency exchanges Upbit and Bithumb have decreased by 70% and 63% since 2018.
According to the FSS, annual revenue of fintech firm Dunamu, Upbit's parent company, plummeted 93% to $ 7.4 million, while the monthly trading volume of the two South Korean exchanges Upbit and Bithumb fell on average 60-80%. In the record months of 2017 and 2018, the monthly trading volume on Bithumb was about 1.2 million BTC (about $ 7.2 billion). However, in the "peak" months of 2019 and 2020, the volume of transactions on Bithumb decreased by 75% and amounted to about 300,000 BTC.
The dynamics of the Upbit exchange is also developing in a negative direction - in 2017 its monthly trading volume totaled 1.35 million BTC, and in 2020 it dropped to 250,000 BTC. Cryptocurrency exchanges Korbit, Coinone, and Gopax are not doing any better - after the first cryptocurrency reached its all-time high of $ 20,000 at the end of 2017, the trading volume of these exchanges also "sank" by 60-80%.
According to experts, such a strong decrease in volumes is due to the fact that over the past 24 months, the interest of South Korean traders in cryptocurrency trading has significantly decreased. It is likely that the pressure of local regulators influenced the activity of traders. In December, the South Korean Internal Revenue Service levied about $ 70 million from Bithumb, accusing the exchange of failing to withhold taxes from foreign clients on profits from cryptocurrency transactions. And in December 2018, executives at Upbit were charged with fake transactions to inflate trading volumes, but the Seoul Southern District Court dropped the charges last month.
The situation is aggravated by the fact that last year both exchanges suffered from hacker attacks, and Bithumb had to "fight off" prosecutors for not taking adequate measures to protect users' confidential information, which was used by hackers.
However, in March, South Korea passed a bill to legalize digital assets, and cryptocurrency exchanges will be required to comply with the new rules. Crypto-asset trading has become fully included in the legal system of South Korea, having received a green light from regulators, which should soon have a positive effect on trading volumes.
Lenders Mt. Gox will meet to discuss disbursements on Wednesday
The lenders of the defunct bitcoin exchange Mt. The Gox will meet on Wednesday at their semiannual meeting. On the eve of the meeting, its agenda was published, writes Decrypt.
The main issue will be the method of distributing funds among creditors. They will be asked to decide whether to receive payments in fiat or part in fiat and part in crypto, including Bitcoin Cash. In the absence of a decision, payments will be made in fiat currency.
The money will be transferred in order of priority in three stages. Those who have lost on Mt. Gox large sums, the second - those whose losses amount to $ 2,000, then proportional shares will be distributed.
Payments in fiat currency will be credited to bank accounts, in bitcoins and Bitcoin Cash to crypto-exchange accounts. Other cryptocurrencies will be converted to fiat.
It is believed that the collapse of Mt. Gox in 2014 affected up to 24,000 people. Tomorrow's meeting will be the fourth in the civil rehabilitation case for Mt. Gox. The process is aimed at ensuring that users can receive the full value of their assets at the current rate, and not at the rate at the time of the close of the exchange.
Great article