Dapper Labs, a blockchain technology and digital collectibles company, has reached a favorable settlement in the legal case Friel vs. Dapper Labs, establishing that NBA Top Shot Moments are not securities. The company emphasizes that this significant ruling clarifies the legal status of digital collectibles and ensures the continued decentralization of the Flow blockchain. Dapper […]
Bitcoin News
Class Action Lawsuit Claims Coinbase Operates as Unregistered Broker
A new class action lawsuit was initiated against the San Francisco-based cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase on May 3. The legal action claims that Coinbase deliberately sold securities that are unregistered with regulatory authorities. Additionally, the lawsuit charges Coinbase with operating as an unregistered securities broker. Lawsuit Alleges Coinbase Illegally Sold Securities Without Registration According to legal […]
Bitcoin News
Deutsche Bank Survey: Over Half Expect Crypto to Become ‘Important’ Asset Class and Payment Method
A new Deutsche Bank survey found that over half of respondents expect cryptocurrencies to become an important asset class and a method of payment. In addition, 10% of respondents expect the price of bitcoin to be above ,000 by year-end. Deutsche Bank’s Crypto Survey A recent Deutsche Bank survey of over 3,600 consumers, published this […]
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Goldman Sachs Wealth Management CIO: Crypto Is Not an Investment Asset Class
The chief investment officer of Goldman Sachs’ Wealth Management unit does not see cryptocurrency as an investment asset class. She also believes that bitcoin “creates absolutely no value in any shape or form.” Her perspective differs from that of some other Goldman Sachs executives regarding bitcoin and cryptocurrencies. ‘We Do Not Think It Is an […]
Bitcoin News
ETF Analyst Comments on ARKB Outflows: A Reality Check for Crypto’s Hodler Class
In a modest yet positive development, U.S. spot bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) saw a net inflow of .5 million, even as the ETF ARKB experienced a substantial outflow of .5 million. Despite ARKB’s significant outflow surpassing that of GBTC, Grayscale’s Bitcoin Trust also faced a reduction, with approximately .9 million being pulled from its funds. […]
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NBA Faces Class Action Lawsuit Over Voyager Digital Promotion
A class action lawsuit has been filed against the National Basketball Association (NBA), accusing the league of gross negligence through its marketing agreements with the now-bankrupt crypto exchange Voyager Digital Holdings, leading to investor losses of over .2 billion. NBA Hit With Class Action Lawsuit Over Alleged Negligent Crypto Promotions The NBA is embroiled in […]
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Vanguard Says No to Bitcoin ETFs — Views Crypto as ‘Immature Asset Class’ With ‘No Inherent Economic Value’
Financial giant Vanguard has explained why the firm does not make spot bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) available on its trading platform. A Vanguard executive stressed that cryptocurrency is “an immature asset class that has little history, no inherent economic value, no cash flow, and can create havoc within a portfolio.”
Vanguard Explains Why It Disallows Spot Bitcoin ETFs
Vanguard published a blog post titled “No Bitcoin ETFs at Vanguard? Here’s why” on Jan. 24, explaining the firm’s stance on cryptocurrency and why it does not allow clients to trade the newly approved spot bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs). Vanguard serves more than 50 million investors worldwide as of Dec. 31, 2023. The firm manages around trillion globally.
Following the approval of 11 spot bitcoin ETFs by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) earlier this month, Vanguard has drawn attention for disallowing its clients to trade the newly launched products. The company also has no plans to launch its own spot bitcoin ETFs.
Janel Jackson, Vanguard’s global head of ETF Capital Markets and Broker and Index Relations, explained in the blog post why her firm is not offering spot crypto ETFs on its brokerage platform. “In Vanguard’s view, crypto is more of a speculation than an investment. This is at the root of our decision to not offer crypto products, whether our own or others,” the executive described, emphasizing:
While crypto has been classified as a commodity, it’s an immature asset class that has little history, no inherent economic value, no cash flow, and can create havoc within a portfolio.
“With equities, you own a share of a company that produces goods or services, and many also pay dividends. With bonds, you get a stream of interest payments. Commodities are real assets that meet consumption needs, have inflation-hedging properties, and can play a role in certain portfolios,” she noted.
Nonetheless, she expressed Vanguard’s interest in blockchain technology, stating: “We do have a lot of interest in blockchain, the technology behind cryptocurrencies. We believe its application to a number of other uses besides crypto will make capital markets more efficient, and we’ve been actively involved in research to use blockchain technology.”
Regarding whether Vanguard is planning to launch its own spot crypto ETFs, Jackson said:
Given the current state of crypto as an asset class, Vanguard does not have plans to launch its own bitcoin ETF or any crypto-related products.
“When deciding what investment products to offer, we consider a range of factors, including whether we believe they have enduring investment merit and meet our clients’ needs,” she clarified. “While the discussion about bitcoin and cryptocurrencies, in general, has increased recently, we do not currently believe that there is an appropriate role for them to play in long-term portfolios. A rigorous process guides every Vanguard product launch.”
What do you think about Vanguard’s explanation regarding spot bitcoin ETFs? Let us know in the comments section below.
IMF Chief Sees Crypto as Asset Class — Says Bitcoin Won’t Dethrone US Dollar as Dominant Currency
International Monetary Fund (IMF) chief Kristalina Georgieva sees crypto as an asset class, not money. She dismissed concerns of bitcoin potentially displacing the U.S. dollar as the world’s dominant currency, citing the size of the U.S. economy and the depth and sophistication of its capital markets as key factors.
IMF Chief on Crypto and US Dollar Dominance
The managing director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), Kristalina Georgieva, dismissed crypto as money and explained why she didn’t see bitcoin as a threat to the U.S. dollar’s dominance in an interview with Yahoo Finance Live last week. Georgieva said:
Our view is that we have to differentiate between money and assets. When we talk about crypto, we are actually talking about an asset class.
“It could be backed up and in that sense, more secure and less risky, or it could be not backed up and therefore a riskier investment. But it is not exactly money. It’s more like a money management fund,” she described.
Last week, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) approved spot bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) for the first time, marking a watershed moment for the cryptocurrency industry. Eleven spot bitcoin ETFs were approved at once and most of them began trading the next day.
While many view the approval of U.S. spot bitcoin ETFs as potentially fueling wider BTC adoption and mainstream acceptance, the IMF chief disagrees, arguing that bitcoin lacks the necessary qualities to usurp the U.S. dollar’s role as the world’s dominant currency. “Look, this day, if it exists, is so far in the future that I think it is not very useful to talk about it,” she opined, elaborating:
Why is the dollar today a dominant currency? Because of the size of U.S. economy and most importantly, the depth of the capital markets in the U.S.
“So I, for one, am not in a rush to turn my dollars into another currency. It doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t, you know, diversify. But, I wouldn’t worry too much about [bitcoin rivaling the dollar]. There are things that make me lose sleep — that’s not one of them,” the IMF managing director opined.
In December last year, Georgieva called for the establishment of clear regulations and robust infrastructure worldwide to mitigate the risks associated with crypto assets. “The challenge is that high crypto asset adoption could undermine macro-financial stability,” she explained. “Our goal is to make a more efficient, interoperable, and accessible financial system by providing rules to avoid the risks of crypto, and infrastructure by leveraging some of its technologies.”
What do you think about the statements by IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva about crypto and do you think bitcoin can overtake the U.S. dollar as the world’s reserve currency? Let us know in the comments section below.
Bitcoin Has Been In A Class Of Its Own For The Last 10 Years, Top Expert Says
Bitcoin has encountered a critical resistance level going into the weekend and could move sideways following a massive rally. According to an expert, the cryptocurrency has been breaching every major obstacle, making it one of the best-performing assets.
As of this writing, Bitcoin (BTC) trades at ,600 with sideways movement in the last 24 hours. Over the previous seven days, BTC recorded a 14% increase, with Ethereum following its footsteps, recording a 13% rally.
Bitcoin vs. Gold: The Digital Currency’s Journey to ,000
Jurrien Timmer, Director of Macro for Fidelity, offers insightful analysis of Bitcoin’s trajectory, likening it to “exponential gold.”
His thesis suggests that Bitcoin, much like its elder counterpart, gold, holds value in times of structural inflation, yet it boasts an added venture twist. In that sense, Timmer believes both assets are prime to capture attention from investors looking to protect themselves from “reckless monetary inflation.”
As seen in the chart below, if Bitcoin follows a similar trajectory to the previous, its price could target 0,000 and ,000,000 by early 2025.
2020 was pivotal for Bitcoin and gold, with fiscal and monetary stimulus bolstering their appeal. However, Bitcoin differentiates itself with its capped supply of 21 million coins, contrasting gold’s continual but modest annual supply growth.
This limited supply has propelled Bitcoin’s “stock-to-flow” (S2F) ratio significantly higher than gold’s. Moreover, Bitcoin’s journey reflects the classic S-curve path of technological innovations. Its exponential growth trajectory mirrors historical trends in technology from railroads to cell phones.
However, predicting Bitcoin’s future based on these S-curves is complex, as slight deviations in these growth phases can “dramatically” alter outcomes, the expert claims.
SEC Deliberations And Institutional Interest Shape Bitcoin’s Future
Timmer’s observations include a potential impact of the SEC’s anticipated decisions on the Bitcoin spot Exchange Traded Fund (ETF). He theorizes that pending product applications could attract new investors, yet he remains cautious about whether this will trigger a “sell-the-news” event and a large drawdown.
Interestingly, a small percentage of Bitcoin is held for under three months, suggesting that the recent price surge is not merely “speculative,” offering support for a longer bullish trend.
The true believers in Bitcoin, as indicated by the growing percentage held for over five or ten years, are unlikely to be swayed by short-term news. However, there is notable activity in the Bitcoin futures market, particularly among asset managers, which could suggest anticipation of the SEC movement.
Any updates from the SEC would arrive in a transformed macroeconomic environment. Unlike the liquidity-rich period of 2020-21, the US Federal Reserve’s (Fed) recent policy shifts have reversed the surge in monetary inflation.
This shift aligns the current situation more with the post-World War II era than the inflationary 1970s, impacting the urgency of the value proposition for gold and Bitcoin.
As BTC matures, its relationship with traditional financial markets and global economic trends becomes increasingly intricate. With the SEC’s decision and a shift in the macro-arena, the coming months are poised to exercise influence over the premier cryptocurrency and the nascent sector.
Cover image from Unsplash, chart from Tradingview
Convicted Sam Bankman-Fried’s Legal Battles Rage On Amidst SEC, CFTC Charges, and Class Action Fury
Sam Bankman-Fried was convicted on all charges in the Department of Justice’s fraud case against the ex-FTX chief, but his legal woes are far from over. He is also under pressure from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), which have slammed him with accusations of both securities and digital commodities fraud. Additionally, Bankman-Fried is grappling with a class action lawsuit alongside a list of celebrity FTX endorsers.
FTX Boss Sam Bankman-Fried Still Faces Maze of New Legal Hurdles
A year to the day after Coindesk lifted the veil on Alameda Research’s balance sheet, Sam Bankman-Fried faced his jury’s unanimous guilty verdict. The onetime cryptocurrency tycoon could spend over a century behind bars, pending the outcome of the Department of Justice’s (DOJ) fraud case. As it stands, his sentencing is set for March 28, 2024, unless there are new developments.
The storm of litigation continues for Bankman-Fried with a class action lawsuit in a Miami federal court. This lawsuit springs from a horde of investors convinced they were duped. The investors’ ire also extends to celebrities like “Seinfeld” director Larry David and NFL star Tom Brady, whom they also accuse of complicity in the fraud. The Miami litigation demands reparations for the staggering billion FTX is accused of pilfering from its clients.
The recent guilty verdict against Bankman-Fried does him no favors as he navigates through his mounting legal challenges. His legal troubles were compounded when the SEC and CFTC lodged their own complaints against him on December 13, 2022. The SEC’s filing charged Bankman-Fried with perpetrating a prolonged scam, stealthily funneling FTX client funds to his own crypto hedge fund, Alameda Research.
Concurrently, on the same day, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) initiated legal proceedings in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York against Bankman-Fried and his companies. The CFTC alleges that Bankman-Fried’s dealings resulted in deceptive practices and significant falsehoods in the marketing of digital commodities across state lines.
The legal onslaught from the DOJ, SEC, and CFTC emerged in close succession, and on February 13, 2023, a federal judge ordered a halt to the SEC and CFTC actions pending the completion of the DOJ case. Consequently, these lawsuits, along with the Miami class action, loom large for Bankman-Fried.
With his conviction, the possibility of further lawsuits against other high-ranking FTX officials and associates looms. The aftermath of the FTX collapse has proven lucrative for the legal professionals tasked with untangling this complex web, with their high fees reflecting the intricate work involved.
What do you think about Bankman-Fried’s unsettled legal matters? Share your thoughts and opinions about this subject in the comments section below.