Daily Crypto NewsEDITION #278, 06 August 2021

Do dictators love digital money?

Hey Moni Maker

Today, in 2012, the Mars rover Curiosity made a successful landing on Mars. Nine years ago, Elon Musk wasn't yet that well known, and space tourism seemed like fiction from cheap books by no one known authors. But now! The things have turned around!

So. You must never stop dreaming! After all, in just a couple of decades, dreams may well become a reality. Let's go!

Venezuela’s currency will be getting a new look, in more ways than one, as the government tries to simultaneously tame inflation and institute monetary sovereignty.

The Central Bank of Venezuela said today that it will be putting the digital bolivar, first announced in February, into circulation on October 1. The information was first posted to the Bank's social media accounts and confirmed later on the website of the People's Ministry of Economy and Finance.

The digital bolivar is an example of a central bank digital currency (CBDC)—a digital representation of a traditional fiat currency issued by a country’s central bank, in contrast to decentralized crypto assets such as Bitcoin.

So what?

No politics. But Venezuela's economy is f@cked up because of some events. Google it, and you'll see for yourself. 10% of the population left in 2019.

Well. A rat in a cage! Let's see how CBDC behaves in a dictatorship.

Tony B. sent us a cool Glassnode post! Thank you, Tony!

The proportion of #Bitcoin supply held by LTHs continues to trend higher as coins are held dormant.

Previous bull markets were triggered when LTH supply reached between 63.6% and 71.5% although often after many months at these levels.

LTHs currently hold 66% of the $BTC supply.

Kitco, a Canada-based provider of news and data on gold and other precious metals, is getting into the stablecoin game.

Kitco Gold (KGLD) will be fully backed by physical gold held in Kitco’s DirectReserve vaults and will track the real-time market value of the yellow metal, according to a press release shared with CoinDesk on Wednesday.

The initial trading date for KGLD hasn’t been set yet, but it will be in the coming weeks, according to a spokesperson.

So what?

It's strange that it's only now. But we wonder how things are...um...how should we describe it? Cryptorising!

JPMorgan Chase began pitching an in-house bitcoin (BTC, +4.92%) fund to its Private Bank clients for the first time this week, completing its transformation from the “never-bitcoin” mega-bank to a participant in the digital assets market.

The passively managed fund doesn’t have any investments from clients yet, according to two people familiar with the matter. That could soon change because advisers were primed about the fund only yesterday in a call with the bank. JPMorgan declined to comment. The fund is being offered in partnership with NYDIG, which is the bitcoin arm of asset-management firm Stone Ridge.

The fund, which CoinDesk revealed in late April, will be presented to clients as the safest and cheapest bitcoin investment vehicle available on private markets, the sources said.

So what?

JPMorgan once wanted to fire people for using bitcoin :) Nobody's perfect.

On July 22, Fidelity Investments Inc. purchased a 7.4% stake worth approximately $20 million in Marathon Digital Holdings, one of the largest bitcoin mining operations in North America, across four broad index-based funds, Fidelity Extended Market Index Fund (FSMAX), Fidelity Nasdaq Composite Index Fund (FNCFX), Fidelity Total Market Index Fund (FSKAX) and Fidelity Series Total Market Index Fund (FCFMX). Combined they have a market capitalization of $170 billion. Though the percentage in each devoted to Marathon is tiny, many of these index funds are popular in retirement accounts.

The recent purchase exemplifies a growing trend among institutions and individual investors of gaining exposure to the crypto industry through traditional equity or debt securities. Marathon’s stock trades similarly to the price of bitcoin (see chart below), only its returns have been amplified. So while bitcoin is up 240% in the last year or so, Marathon shares have climbed 660%. So these Fidelity index funds can effectively gain access to the volatile cryptocurrency without actually owning the digital asset directly. It may also mean that many investors in the U.S. and abroad have unwitting exposure to bitcoin and other digital assets in their retirement accounts or investment portfolios.

Volume is the quantity of certain assets that have changed hands over a period of time.

And more you can find in our Glossary!

And you...buy Bitcoin! (it's a good time!)