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Bitcoin continues climbing after very good week

Bitcoin’s crushed it this week. The asset crossed the symbolic $100,000 mark on May 8 in the wake of the UK-US trade deal, the first time it’s hit six figures since early February.

Bitcoin started the week hovering around $95,000 and passed $104,000 in the wee hours last night. As of 10:00 a.m. ET Friday, it’s at roughly $103,700.

Earlier this week, Strategy, the largest bitcoin corporate holder, as usual, added to its reserve, acquiring 1,895 bitcoin for about $180.3 million. The company now holds 555,450 bitcoin.

Metaplanet also doubled down on its bitcoin endeavor this week. The Japanese company acquired 555 bitcoin and now holds 5,555 bitcoin. It also announced plans to sell another $21.25 million worth of bonds today to buy additional bitcoin, following a previous bond sale of $21.25 million on May 6.

A new company going big on bitcoin is social media branding company Thumzup, which plans “to raise up to $500,000,000 for additional working capital and to further its Bitcoin (‘BTC’) acquisition strategy.” As of today, it holds 19.106 bitcoin.

KULR Technology Group also acquired 42 bitcoin for about $4 million. The company now holds 716.2 bitcoin.

Last, but not least, fast-food chain Steak ’n Shake, “Home of the Original Steakburger,” announced today it will start accepting payments in bitcoin across the US as of May 16, saying, “The movement is just beginning.” The company signed the post “Steaktoshi.”

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Payward, parent company of crypto exchange Kraken, puts plans for IPO on hold

Payward, crypto exchange Kraken’s parent company, has paused its plans for an initial public offering until market conditions improve, according to a report from CoinDesk that cited two people with knowledge of the matter. 

Since the firm announced in November its preparation for an IPO of its common stock, the total market capitalization of the crypto industry has shed around $652.2 billion, from $3.2 trillion to $2.5 trillion as of Wednesday, data from CoinGecko shows. 

The news comes two weeks after Kraken received approval for a master account from the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City, allowing the crypto exchange to connect to the Fed’s payment infrastructure used by traditional banks and credit unions. 

Last year, Kraken raised $800 million at a $20 billion valuation from institutional investors such as Jane Street and Citadel Securities.

The news comes two weeks after Kraken received approval for a master account from the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City, allowing the crypto exchange to connect to the Fed’s payment infrastructure used by traditional banks and credit unions. 

Last year, Kraken raised $800 million at a $20 billion valuation from institutional investors such as Jane Street and Citadel Securities.

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SEC and CFTC issue new guidance on how securities laws apply to crypto assets

On Tuesday, the US Securities and Exchange Commission, together with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, issued an interpretation clarifying how federal securities law applies to crypto assets, a first step toward developing a clearer regulatory framework. 

The interpretive guidance introduces a token taxonomy for different types of cryptocurrencies, with SEC Chairman Paul S. Atkins adding that “most crypto assets are not themselves securities.”

Examples of a digital commodity, “a crypto asset that is intrinsically linked to and derives its value from the programmatic operation of a crypto system that is ‘functional,’” include:

The guidance also includes definitions of digital collectibles (such as NFTs), stablecoins, digital tools, and digital securities (such as tokenized real-world assets and stocks).

This is a monumental step in the mainstream adoption of the industry and clears a hurdle in how crypto can operate going forward, according to David Pakman, head of venture investments at CoinFund. “This will allow new token designs with the confidence that their existence does not require registration with the SEC, etc.,” Pakman told Sherwood News.

Despite the clarification efforts from the two organizations, the market capitalization of the crypto industry has dropped about 2% in the last 24 hours as each of the tokens mentioned in the guidance are trading lower in the period, data from CoinGecko shows.

The joint agency action also complements congressional efforts to turn a crypto market structure framework into law. With the goal of providing regulations on the offer and sale of digital commodities, the CLARITY Act passed the House of Representatives last year and is now sitting in the Senate.

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