Author: Reuters
Major cryptocurrency exchange Binance is taking a $200 million stake in Forbes magazine, CNBC reported on Thursday , citing people familiar with the deal. The investment from Binance will help Forbes complete a plan to merge with a publicly-traded special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) by the end of March, CNBC reported. Binance, the world’s biggest crypto exchange by trading volumes, will become one of the two largest owners of Forbes after its listing, CNBC said, citing sources. The Binance investment will replace half of the $400 million in commitments from investors previously announced, the report said. Binance did not immediately…
Evidence emerging from the first central bank digital currencies (CBDCs) around the world suggests there is no one-size-fits-all model as stability and privacy are designed into systems, the head of the International Monetary Fund has said. Roughly 100 countries are now looking at CBDCs, the IMF estimates, and it published a study on Wednesday looking at six nations including China, Sweden and the Bahamas where digital money is already up and running or at an advanced stage. In a speech on the report, IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva said there were a number of key lessons from these early experiences.…
Flow Traders NV, a proprietary Dutch trading firm best known for market making in exchange-traded products (ETPs), on Thursday reported 2021 net trading income of 384 million euros ($439 million), in line with expectations, and said it was becoming a significant player in European crypto ETPs. Analysts had seen full year trading income at 385 million euros, versus 933 million in 2020, according to Refinitiv data. Flow Traders benefits from volatile markets and had windfall profits during the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in March 2020. The company also engages in off-exchange trading with institutional investors. It has begun making…
Regulators came late to the fast evolving cross-border world of cryptoassets but they could come up with their first global framework of rules within months, a senior official said on Wednesday. The Financial Stability Board, which groups regulators, central banks and finance ministry officials from the G20 economies, is looking at what needs to be done with cryptoassets such as bitcoin and stablecoins. Crypto assets are currently treated differently across the world, ranging from bans to no rules at all even though they are traded by international firms. The European Union is approving a comprehensive set of standards for authorising…
Abu Dhabi-based crypto trading firm Hayvn is in talks with institutional investors to anchor a series B funding round that would value it at $400 million as it eyes an eventual initial public offering (IPO), its chief executive officer said. Hayvn, which raised $5 million in series A funding in 2021, hopes to raise $30 million in the series B round which it expects to close in about three months, CEO Christopher Flinos told Reuters. Crypto’s move into the mainstream has gained pace, with large banks and companies starting to embrace it. Industry backers hope this will reduce digital coin…
The head of the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission is pushing for his agency to take on a leading role in policing digital assets as lawmakers and Biden administration officials scramble to bring cryptocurrencies under the regulatory fold. In a letter sent on Tuesday to the agriculture committees in the U.S. House of Representatives and Senate, CFTC Chairman Rostin Behnam emphasized the agency’s focus in mitigating risk to individual investors and promoting market integrity as core reasons why it should be a central player in any crypto regulatory regime. “At the CFTC, we have seen that a regulatory regime focused…
As bitcoin drifts towards mainstream maturity in 2022, daring crypto investors are eyeing up new sources of explosive action: “altcoins” that power online games and worlds. But, be warned, the foothills of the unformed metaverse are no place for the faint-hearted. Bitcoin , which like the rest of the market had been largely sinking since late 2021, has risen about 16% over the past two weeks to push above $41,000, prompting many market players to declare an end to the “crypto winter”. Yet newer and smaller coins linked to virtual platforms have enjoyed stronger rallies amid the buzz around the…
Bitcoin rose to a four-week peak on Monday, climbing for a second consecutive session, driven in part by technical factors such as the liquidation of some short positions that pushed the virtual currency to a three-month downtrend, analysts said. The world’s largest cryptocurrency hit $44,347.65 , the highest since mid-January. It was last up 4.4% at $44,286. Since hitting a roughly six-month low on Jan. 24, bitcoin has gained about 35%. Ether, the second largest digital currency in terms of market capitalization, touched a three-week peak of $3,170 and was last up 3.16% at $3,154.73. Read full story on Reuters
Tesla Inc (TSLA.O) said on Monday it received a subpoena from the U.S. securities regulator in November related to the SEC settlement that required top boss Elon Musk’s tweets on material information to be vetted. The disclosure in an annual filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission comes after Musk triggered a stock sell-off after asking his Twitter followers in November if he should sell 10% of his stake in the company. As of last close, the electric-car maker’s shares fell by nearly a quarter since the tweet. They were little changed in early trading on Monday. The SEC’s latest action, which the company did…
A group of major cryptocurrency firms including Coinbase, Circle, Anchorage Digital and Huobi Global are forming a new coalition aimed at cracking down on market manipulation in an effort to instill trust in the burgeoning digital asset industry. The Crypto Market Integrity Coalition, which was convened by risk-monitoring software company Solidus Labs, is also urging digital currency companies to sign a “market integrity” pledge that acknowledges the potential for fraud in the cryptocurrency space and the need for the industry to protect investors. “It really is about recognizing that you need entities that are focused on a fair and orderly…