● SEC Looks to Greenlight Crypto Broker Dealers
● $XRP Heads Down After SEC Action
● Dollar Dips Lower
Thanks for joining us for today’s edition of Overbit Weekly Round Up. We’ll jump right in with today’s edition, first taking a look at the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
According to reports, the SEC is showing signs it may be receptive to crypto custodians becoming federally regulated broker-dealers, specifically for digital assets. The US trade-based commission announced on Wednesday, 23 December it would allow crypto-focused custodians to operate for five years without possibility of any enforcement actions, given the custodians can prove they actually have control of the underlying assets.
This proposal is still in the review process as the SEC seeks feedback. Nevertheless, this is a hugely positive sign for cryptocurrency. The proposal itself would allow digital asset custodians to become a recognized entity in the eye of the law. Also, important, though, is what CoinDesk pointed out in their reporting on the story. "This is positive from the SEC because it's enabling rather than restrictive," tweeted Caitlin Long, CEO of Wyoming-based crypto bank Avanti Financial. After the so-called ‘Mnuchin Rule’, it seemed the U.S. was taking a hostile approach to cryptocurrencies. However, this proposal makes it clear that the dust has not settled yet between governments and cryptocurrencies.
Speaking of the dust not being settled yet brings us into our next story of the day, which stays focused on the SEC and cryptocurrency.
In a landmark filing, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission filed a lawsuit against the infamous Ripple blockchain company. For years, the XRP / Ripple audience flipped between their cryptocurrency being the bank’s go-to choice for blockchain technology, to it simply being a massive unlicensed securities fraud. On Wednesday, 23 December, it seems the U.S. SEC took the latter position, alleging that Ripple conducted a $1.3 billion unregistered securities offering.
This brought the price of XRP plummeting, losing more than 30% of value and falling as low as $.22 on some exchanges. To be more specific on the lawsuit, it appears that the SEC is suing Ripple and two of its executives, CEO Brad Garlinghouse and co-founder Chris Larsen. These lawsuits rippled into the rest of the cryptocurrency community, with many coins like LINK and SUSHI seeing double-digit percentage point drops in a matter of hours.
As we said, the dust has certainly not settled between governments and cryptocurrencies. With Bitcoin and other coins earning investment-grade status from prominent billionaires, it seems that one of the last hurdles will be governments themselves. We’ll be sure to keep you updated on this trend going forward, one we believe will grow more prominent in the future.
To close out the week with Overbit, we take a look at some forex news from the past week.
The U.S. dollar shrugs lower as more investors increase their risk allocation, prompted by the promising vaccine developments. Things are far from normal, though, as fears emerge of a second virus strain. Japan is set to ban travel from the UK starting Thursday based on these new reports.
Though confidence in the market is growing thanks to the vaccine front, we did see a bit of a speedbump on the U.S. front in regards to the stimulus package. We previously reported that Washington D.C. had finally come to a $900 billion stimulus package, which was passed by over 90% of the senators. However, President Trump is now threatening a veto due to the paltry $600 direct payment being afforded to citizens. In a video released Tuesday, 22 December, Trump demanded $2,000 payments, over 3 times what was initially in the bill.
This has kept the risk markets like equities up yet steady, without any massive bullish advances seen when the last stimulus package was passed. The U.S. dollar does look weak as we mentioned, with its major rivals closing higher against it; EUR/USD pushed towards 1.2200 before stalling while GBP/USD kept above 1.3400. Safe-haven assets look steady as well, gold remains flat at $1,860.06 and Bitcoin down 1.5% to $23,084. With the new year fast approaching, it looks as if the market is coiling up before any 2021 catalysts.
In our final editions of the year, we just want to send a Happy Holidays and big thank you for the tremendous support we have received at Overbit.com