Crypto
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That’s a wrap

Coinbase launches doge and XRP wrapped tokens, opening up a whole new (DeFi) world

Wrapped tokens are essential in the decentralized finance space.

Yaël Bizouati-Kennedy

Coinbase’s wrapped assets, cbDOGE and cbXRP, are now live on Base, its ethereum layer 2 network. The move will expand the cross-chain use of these tokens.

Simply put, wrapped tokens are digital assets representing cryptocurrencies on other chains. In this case, as Coinbase posted, “cbDOGE and cbXRP are ERC-20 tokens backed 1:1 by dogecoin and XRP held in custody by Coinbase.”

This “wrapping” allows the tokens to be used across different chains, and are essential in the DeFi space. As CoinGecko puts it, “Wrapped tokens offer a way to circumvent the lack of interoperability between different blockchains.”

Dillon Liang, cofounder of DeFi infrastructure company Blueprint Finance, told Sherwood News that these tokens going live on Base is another sign that interoperability is becoming table stakes in crypto. 

“These assets now have access to the growing Base ecosystem, meaning they can be used in DeFi apps, traded more easily, and add the potential for further utility in DeFi,” Liang said. 

Base data indicates that 2.3 million cbXRP and 10.4 million cbDOGE have been issued.

Coinbase launched a wrapped bitcoin last year, cbBTC, which now has a $4.7 billion market cap.

The platform is also set to launch a wrapped litecoin, cbLTC, and a wrapped ADA, cbADA, “soon.”

Alexander Blume, CEO of Two Prime Digital Assets, said these wrapped products are akin to making a bitcoin ETF so that bitcoin can operate within traditional financial rails. 

For Base, the advantage is that the tokens allow it to address a broader customer base and offer additional assets to trade, increasing usage of the Base L2, Blume said.

“Clearly, Coinbase is seeing demand from clients for this and so has responded by enabling this functionality,” he added.

The total market cap for wrapped tokens stands at $46.6 billion.

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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.

Payward, parent of crypto exchange Kraken, has put its IPO plans on hold

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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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