Bakkt, a regulated platform for crypto asset custody and trading owned by Intercontinental Exchange, has reported record daily trading volumes for its physically-settled Bitcoin (BTC) futures contracts. On September 16, Bakkt announced that more than $200 million worth of BTC contracts had been traded over a single day — breaking its previous record by 36%. According to crypto market data aggregator Skew, the record figure is roughly double the average daily volumes posted throughout September so far. Bakkt daily Bitcoin futures volume: Skew Despite being touted as the likely catalyst…
Day: September 16, 2020
Philippines SEC warns of ‘cloud mining’ Ponzi related to Bitcoin Vault
The Philippines SEC has released an official warning about Bitcoin (BTC) “cloud mining” company Mining City, advising the public to steer clear of the scheme and others like it. Despite the official condemnation, the price of a related cryptocurrency is on the rise. The warning describes the company as an unlicensed entity in the country and said it was not functioning “in accordance with guidelines for virtual currency exchanges,” stating: “The aforementioned scheme used by Mining City clearly shows an indication of a possible Ponzi scheme in which new investor…
Suspended ePayments platform will relaunch without crypto
The ePayments online money transfer platform is restarting services following a seven month suspension – and notably absent this time around is support for cryptocurrencies. ePayments is a global money transfer service that boasts over 1 million accounts and has issued 75,000 debit cards. According to their regulator filings, the firm made profits of $US23.2 million in 2019. The company has announced that it is preparing to “start working again” but as cryptocurrency accounted for one fifth of its business, relaunching without it is notable. We are getting ready to…
Yam Finance readies for less-disastrous relaunch
Decentralized finance (DeFi) protocol Yam Finance is relaunching on September 18. Yam Finance V2, a fork of Compound (COMP) featuring a native token with an elastic supply, burst onto the DeFi scene last month — garnering more than half a billion in assets from yield farmers within 24 hours of launching. However, the unaudited V2 of Yam Finance came to a dramatic conclusion when a catastrophic bug caused excessive reserves to be minted which rendered it impossible for governance to be executed. The relaunch follows a period of interim governance…
Regulatory risks grow for DeFi as a ‘money laundering haven’
The rapid growth in decentralized finance and yield farming is likely to attract greater regulatory attention according to a recent report. A joint research paper by global management consulting firm BCG Platinion and Crypto.com has indicated that the rapid growth in DeFi in 2020 has created the potential for money laundering which will bring it under the radar of regulatory authorities. Since the beginning of the year, the dollar value of crypto collateral locked across DeFi platforms has increased over 1200% to reach $9 billion according to data provider DeFi…
Binance US on track to launch in all 50 states by 2021
New legislation may make it possible for Binance US, the American branch of crypto exchange Binance, to open its doors to all traders in every state by next year. According to a Sept. 15 tweet from Binance U.S. CEO Catherine Coley, the digital asset marketplace has just launched in Georgia, allowing users to buy, trade, and earn digital assets. Thrilled @BinanceUS launches in Georgia today – our 40th state! Atlanta means so much to me, a 1996 @kerristrug96 fangirl obsessed with the Olympics. What can I say, we’ve come a…