Jan 2022 Crypto Industry Updates

Content will be sorted chronologically with latest at the bottom.

• Cathie Wood’s ARK Invest Opens Position in Company Merging With Stablecoin Giant Circle
  • According to a report from MarketWatch, Wood’s ARK Fintech Innovation exchange-traded fund (ETF) spent $705,820 on 69,300 shares of Concord Acquisition Corporation (CND), a SPAC that recently announced it would be merging with stablecoin firm Circle.
  • The merger between CND and Circle, which will take place during the summer of 2022, puts a value on the newly formed public company at $4.5 billion.
• Animoca Brands raises US$358,888,888 at US$5B valuation to grow the open metaverse [18 January 2022]
  • Animoca Brands has executed Subscription Agreements with various investors to raise a total of US$358,888,888 at a subscription price of A$4.50 per share, for a total of 111,173,515 new shares
  • company’s major blockchain game projects include The Sandbox and its associated utility token SAND
• Ethereum Foundation announced that the term “Ethereum 2.0” is being retired in favour of the “consensus layer” [25 Jan 2022]
  • from now on, Ethereum 1.0 is being referred to as the “execution layer,” while Ethereum 2.0 has been rebranded as the “consensus layer.”
  • this is to stop scammers from touting fake ETH2 tokens
  • to fix the misconception that ETH 1.0 disappears when ETH 2.0 is complete
• Digital asset custody firm Fireblocks confirms $550m funding at $8 billion valuation
  • co-led by D1 Capital Partners and Spark Capital.
  • company’s first big claim to fame was attracting the largest conventional custodian BNY Mellon as a customer and investor.
  • other clients include Revolut, Galaxy Digital, Crypto.com, BlockFi, Deribit, eToro, CoinShares, 3 Arrows Capital and B2C2.
• Hong Kong gives banks, brokers the crypto go-ahead [28 Jan 2022]
  • The Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission and the Hong Kong Monetary Authority issued a joint circular on Friday, 28 January, giving the financial-services industry the green light to do crypto business.
  • The circular states that licensed brokers and banks in Hong Kong must partner with SFC-licensed Virtual Asset (VA) platform operators - which are those that are licensed to conduct Type 1 (dealing in securities), and Type 7 (providing automated trading services) regulated activities - to offer VA dealing services.
  • OSL is currently the only SFC licensed VA trading platform in Hong Kong and built its institutional and B2B solutions to help banks and brokers enter the market quickly, securely and in compliance with regulatory obligations. The company already provides its industry leading compliant and secure VA SaaS, custody, exchange and prime brokerage solutions to a number of leading banks and asset managers. Under the guidance, OSL can now provide immediate access to banks and brokers that wish to provide VA trading to their clients in Hong Kong and is in prime position to continue to lead the regulated market as a new era of institutional investment in VA begins.
• Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) discourages cryptocurrency firms from advertising their ‘highly risky’ services in public spaces (Media Release)
  • MAS has issued a set of guidelines discouraging cryptocurrency firms from advertising their services in public areas or by engaging third parties, including social media influencers.
  • public spaces include public transport, public transport venues, public websites, social media platforms as well as broadcast and print media.
  • firms are also discouraged from providing physical automated teller machines (ATMs) to provide cryptocurrency services.
  • companies may still advertise on their own corporate websites, mobile applications or official social media accounts.

  • “MAS has consistently warned that trading Digital Payment Tokens (DPTs) is highly risky and not suitable for the general public, as the prices of DPTs are subject to sharp speculative swings”

  • Regulator’s assistant managing director, Loo Siew Lee:

    “MAS strongly encourages the development of blockchain technology and innovative application of crypto tokens in value-adding use cases. But the trading of cryptocurrencies is highly risky and not suitable for the general public.”

  • Mr Raks Sondhi, the managing director of Independent Reserve, told TODAY that the firm is re-evaluating its current marketing campaigns and intends to pull back on some planned campaigns. Source: TodayOnline

  • Ms Zann Kwan, chief executive officer of Deodi, an operator of bitcoin ATMs:

    “As per (MAS') guidance, we have switched off all our physical machines in public areas in Singapore”