Top Headlines:
- Bitcoin is now the most crowded trade in all financial markets according to a Bank of America survey conducted in January. Deutsche Bank’s monthly-manager survey also rated the Bitcoin bubble at a 10 out of 10 in relation to its readiness to burst (Reuters)
- Crypto investment company Grayscale raised $700M in one day on January 15th, their highest one-day raise to date. The company now has $27.1B under management as of January 15th after starting 2020 with just over $2B (Coindesk)
Cryptocurrency Spotlight:
- Earlier this week, fans of cryptocurrency were dismayed at incoming Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen’s comments during her Senate Finance hearing where she identified cryptocurrency use, including by terrorists, as “a growing concern”, possibly signaling future efforts to clamp down on crypto trade. However, later this week her written remarks to Congress painted a much more optimistic picture, stating that it is important to “consider the benefits of cryptocurrencies and other digital assets, and the potential they have to improve the efficiency of the financial system” (Coindesk, Daily HODL)
- BlackRock, the world’s largest asset manager, has moved to allow for two of its largest funds to explore investing in Bitcoin. The financial giant filed prospectus documents with the SEC earlier this week but has yet to identify which commodity exchanges they may use (Coindesk)
- The deputy CEO of Deltec, the Tether banker based in the Bahamas, claims that the stablecoin is backed by more than 100% of fiat reserves. The claim comes as Tether remains under fire for a $850M embezzlement case based out of New York State (BTC Manager)
Blockchain Spotlight:
- The Zilliqa blockchain platform tokenized a rare whiskey collection, allowing for accredited investors to own a part of this asset. Upon bottling and sale, investors can trade their tokens for cash on Taiwanese-based platform HGX (CryptoNinjas)
Equity Crowdfunding News:
- We wrote last week about the changes to Reg CF and Reg A+ rules approved by the SEC in November 2020 being published in the Federal Register, with updates becoming effective March 15th of this year. However, a Presidential Action by President Joe Biden may impact the rollout of the new rules, as the Regulatory Freeze Pending Review memo orders that any rules published in the Federal Register that have not taken effect should be delayed by 60 days until reviewed (Crowdfund Insider)