Fidelity Digital Assets Launches UK Branch In Line With Local Laws

Fidelity Investments’ cryptocurrency branch Fidelity Digital Assets is expanding to the United Kingdom. “We plan to provide our services to European institutional investors through our U.K.-registered entity, Fidelity Digital Assets, Ltd,” a Fidelity Digital Assets representative told Cointelegraph on Dec. 17, saying: “We recognize that the regulatory requirements for service providers in the digital assets space is evolving, and we intend to comply with all applicable requirements in the U.K. and elsewhere as we continue to globally expand our services to the institutional investment community.” The move into the U.K.…

Even 2019’s Strongest Cryptocurrency is Unable to Escape the Bear Market

Binance Coin (BNB), the eighth-largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization, opened on Tuesday in a severely negative area as a string of poor fundamentals scared investors away. BNB plunged by 5.78 percent, or $0.77, to trade at $12.65. The latest downside move came as a part of an extended bearish correction seen across the entire cryptocurrency market. Like BNB, top coins including Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH), and Ripple (XRP), too suffered intraday losses. On the whole, the cryptocurrency market had erased approx $16bn off its capitalization from Monday until 1523 UTC…

Fidelity to Expand Institutional Crypto Business to Europe

“We’re also encouraged by continued corporate and venture investment in market infrastructure companies as well as the entry of traditional exchanges into the digital assets ecosystem,” Jessop said. “These and other market indicators, alongside interest expressed from U.K. and European client prospects, indicate a market with increasing potential which gives us the confidence to expand the digital assets business geographically.” Source

Is Bitcoin Already Oversold after Recording the Recent Plunge?

Today Bitcoin endured another fall, tumbling to the price level at $6,700 and drawing closer to the price level at $6,600. The cryptocurrency of the first choice has arrived at just $6,670.37 today, the most reduced level since late November. Now, the digital money has declined by over half from its 2019 high, as in June on the level at $13,879.21. Bitcoin continued a consistent descending pattern for a considerable length of time, during which time it exchanged to a descending channel. After the ongoing plunge, the question asked is…

Private Payment System for Central Bank Digital Currency Possible, Says ECB

Recent research by the European Central Bank (ECB) claims that it is possible to develop a central bank digital currency (CBDC) payment system that protects user privacy. Per the report dubbed “Exploring anonymity in central bank digital currencies,” the European System of Central Banks (ESCB) established a proof-of-concept (PoC) for anonymity in CBDCs, which came as part of its ongoing research of CBDCs and their potential benefits to the public. The dedicated PoC was developed in collaboration with tech companies R3 and Accenture. Corda-based PoC The ESCB used R3’s open-source…

Bitcoin Price Slides to $6.6K, XRP Falls Below $0.20

Bitcoin (BTC) fell further below $7,000 on Dec. 17 after a loss of support the previous day caused bears to strengthen their grip on the market. Cryptocurrency market daily overview. Source: Coin360 “Energy value oscillator” gives hope to BTC bulls Data from Coin360 and Cointelegraph Markets showed BTC/USD fluctuating around $6,900 on Tuesday but failing to reclaim the $7,000 range. A subsequent further dip produced local lows of $6,710. At press time, the pair traded at $6,710, having bounced off support at $6,650. Weekly, Bitcoin is down just over 8%.…

Open Interest in Bakkt’s Bitcoin Futures Hits Record Highs of $7.02 Million

In what has been seen by many in the crypto space as a win, the open interest of the Bitcoin futures platform Bakkt has reached new all-time highs. Sources indicate that this occurred yesterday and that this shows fresh inflows from new entrants into the Bitcoin marketplace. Twitter’s BakktBot has further put the open interest at $7.02 million which shows strong trading activity on the Intercontinental Exchange-managed platform and also greater liquidity within the Bitcoin futures market in general. Monday’s Bakkt Bitcoin Monthly Futures: 📈 Traded contracts: 2898 ($19.90 million,…