Frank Holmes
Crypto SWOT: Bitcoin briefly set a fresh 17-month high last week before retreating
Kitco Commentaries | Opinions, Ideas and Markets Talk
Featuring views and opinions written by market professionals, not staff journalists.
Strengths
- Of the cryptocurrencies tracked by CoinMarketCap, the best performer for the week was ThorChain, rising 33.69%.
- Bitcoin briefly set a fresh, 17-month high before retreating from the $35,000 price level as traders say the battle between crypto bulls and bears is intensifying in the derivates market, writes Bloomberg. In addition, the digital currency has witnessed recent strong performance in part due to optimism over the imminent approval of a handful of spot ETF products.
- Hong Kong is set to allow primary dealing of tokenization by providing more guidance on tokenized securities-related activities, the Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) announced on Thursday. The move appears to be another step in Hong Kong’s recently accelerated ambitions to become a virtual asset hub, writes Bloomberg.
Weaknesses
- Of the cryptocurrencies tracked by CoinMarketCap, the worst performer for the week was Quant, down 10.54%.
- PayPal holdings received a subpoena from the U.S. securities and exchange commission’s (SEC’s) division of enforcement related to its work on a dollar-linked stablecoin, according to Bloomberg.
- Sam Bankman-Fried was convicted of massive fraud that led to the collapse of his FTX exchange, following a month-long trial that pitted the testimony of the former crypto king against that of some of his closest friends. Bankman-Fried was found guilty of seven counts of fraud and faces as much as 20 years in prison, according to Bloomberg.
Opportunities
- HSBC Holdings launched a platform that uses distributed ledger technology to tokenize ownership of physical gold held in its London Vault. The new system created digital tokens that represent gold bars, writes Bloomberg.
- Bitcoin miner Marathon Digital has started a pilot mining project in Utah that uses methane gas generated from landfill waste to make electricity to power mining operations, according to Bloomberg.
- The Swiss National Bank will launch the pilot phase of its planned digital wholesale franc in December. The project, in collaboration with six commercial banks from Switzerland and Germany and the Swiss stock exchange, will entail issuing a digital Swiss franc on a blockchain using distributed ledger technology, writes Bloomberg.
Threats
- Taiwan police have busted what appears to be the country’s largest crypto related money laundering case. The police agency’s criminal investigation bureau said in a statement that the police force in June arrested suspect Chieu, who allegedly processed over 324 million USDT to launder money involved in an investment fraud case, writes Bloomberg.
- Analysts expect to see negative short-term price action if a bitcoin spot ETF is rejected by the SEC, writes CoinDesk. Analysts, however, pointed out that bitcoin certainly doesn’t hinge its existence on an ETF.
- Telegram trading bot, Unibot, said it would reimburse any stolen funds after being the victim of a token approval exploit that drained the protocol for over $600,000. This is the latest exploit in the crypto world, writes Bloomberg.
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