Author: Barron's
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine could be a catalyst for cryptocurrencies, positively and negatively. Both Russia and Ukraine are grappling with economic turmoil due to the war, prompting residents to try to shelter assets in cryptos as their sovereign currencies lose value and face more instability. Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelensky, signed a law on Wednesday to create a legal framework for cryptocurrencies in the country, providing legal cover for exchanges and banks in the country to process transactions. Crypto donations to Ukraine have hit $64 million from 120,000 people, according to blockchain analytics firm Elliptic. Crypto demand also appears to be…
Securities and Exchange Commissioner Hester Peirce pushed back against the agency’s $100 million settlement with BlockFi Lending on Monday, telling Barron’s the agreement was “not constructive” as a means of regulating the industry. Chairman Gary Gensler, the Democratic head of the SEC, highlighted the settlement with BlockFi as a sign of progress in regulating crypto lenders. “Today’s settlement makes clear that crypto markets must comply with time-tested securities laws, such as the Securities Act of 1933 and the Investment Company Act of 1940,” Gensler said in a statement. “It further demonstrates the Commission’s willingness to work with crypto platforms to determine how…
Aurox said Tuesday that it planned to list its shares this year and was considering several options. This includes a traditional initial public offering, a direct listing of its shares, as well as merging with an existing public company, including a special purpose acquisition company. “We need to get significant funding into the company,” Aurox’s CEO and co-founder, Giorgi Khazaradze, told Barron’s. “Now it’s about taking it from a small business to a large corporation.” Founded in 2017, Aurox provides software that lets users trade cryptocurrencies. The company also provides data on more than 60 exchanges, Khazaradze said. In 2020, the Dallas start-up…
The Biden administration is preparing to release an executive action that will task federal agencies with regulating digital assets such as Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies as a matter of national security, a person familiar with the White House’s plan tells Barron’s. The national security memorandum, expected to come in the next few weeks, would task parts of the government with analyzing digital assets and assembling a regulatory framework that covers cryptos, stablecoins, and NFTs, or non-fungible tokens, this person said. “This is designed to look holistically at digital assets and develop a set of policies that give coherency to what the government is…
The online payments company Paysafe is expanding into New York’s regulated sports-betting market and plans a partnership with the cryptoocurrency exchange Binance. The stock (ticker: PSFE) rose in early trading, but then slipped back to the breakeven line, at $3.46. Broadbased gains for stocks gave way to losses as investors digested the latest news about the Federal Reserve’s plans to tighten monetary policy. Paysafe’s payment gateway will be used to process online deposits and payouts for players in New York with mobile sports-betting brands, a news release said. New York’s Gaming Commission recently approved licenses for online sports betting operators such as DraftKings (DKNG) and Caesars Entertainment (CZR).…
A few thoughts early in the trading week: Recent crypto buyers who are sitting on deep losses surely don’t need me reminding them that Bitcoin has no cash flows or dividends. But for the benefit of inexperienced traders who are being urged in meme-trading chat rooms to “buy the dip”: The floor for crypto is zero. I’m not saying it’s headed there. In a Barron’s cover story last fall, I noted that the market value of crypto was approaching the money supply of the United Kingdom. That’s enough critical mass to suggest the asset class will be around for many years. In fact, I’m…
MicroStrategy stock continued its downward spiral Monday, dragged down by plunging Bitcoin prices and newly released filings showing that the Securities and Exchange Commission objected to how the software company accounts for its cryptocurrency holdings. Shares of MicroStrategy (ticker: MSTR) were down 10.4% on Monday to $337. The stock lost around 17% on Friday and has fallen 38% this year. MicroStrategy has been buying Bitcoin (BTC) since September 2020, when it announced the cryptocurrency would be a significant part of its capital allocation strategy. As a result, the shares have been falling alongside Bitcoin, which slumped under $35,000 last week. Bitcoin continued to drop on Monday, losing almost…
Rhodium, which didn’t list an address but said its mining facility is located in Texas, has filed to offer about 7.7 million shares at $12 to $14 each. It plans to trade on the Nasdaq under the ticker RHDM. B. Riley Securities and Cowen are lead underwriters on the deal, a prospectus said. Rhodium is scheduled to price its deal on Wednesday, Jan. 19, and trade the next day, a person familiar with the situation said. At $14, Rhodium’s valuation could hit $1.7 billion. Rhodium is the latest Bitcoin miner to come to market. Stronghold Digital Mining (ticker: SDIG) soared 52% from its…
Coinbase turned higher Thursday but other cryptocurrency-related stocks such as Marathon Digital extended losses after Bitcoin slumped and investors sold off the tech sector. Coinbase (ticker: COIN) was up 1% to $236.66 in premarket trading Thursday after dropping more than 7% during the previous session as Bitcoin slid following the release of the minutes from the Federal Reserve’s meeting in December. Bloomberg reported that analysts at BofA Global Research raised their rating on Coinbase to Buy from Neutral. Marathon Digital (MARA) fell 1.1% early Thursday after sinking more than 13% on Wednesday; Riot Blockchain (RIOT) was down 1.6% Thursday after declining 12% on Wednesday; and MicroStrategy (MSTR)…
Bitcoin’s end-of-year slide pulled Coinbase down with it. The pessimism might be misplaced, one analyst claims. Bitcoin fell 31% from its Nov. 8 high through the end of 2021, and that drop was painful for Coinbase, which fell 29% over the same period. The fear is that as Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies fall, investors will lose interest, hurting the business of crypto exchanges. Those concerns are misplaced according to Oppenheimer analyst Owen Lau. While the drop in Bitcoin was painful, it didn’t drive investors away from cryptocurrencies. Instead, the decline caused investors to trade more. Lau estimates that trading volume hit a record $540 billion…