23rd October 2022 > > Crypto adoption.

tl;dr

Crypto adoption continues apace.

Market Snap

Market Wrap

We have never seen five unches (*) in the Market Snap until now.

Still, most of the larger news outlets continue to peddle stories of market turmoil, which most people - unfamiliar with how to track markets themselves - will continue to believe is a true and fair representation of the world, when it is patently false.

We can easily test this hypothesis.

As compared to before the mini budget, do you think sterling is higher or lower today?

As compared to before the mini budget, do you think the FTSE is higher or lower today?

Answers below, though contrarians worldwide need only to trust their instinct.

Occasional Series – Oh my

Today marks the return of Luton Town to Vicarage Road, the first time this ferocious local derby will be watched by a sell-out crowd since 2006.

My first experience of this game was on 26th December 1979. 0-0 until injury time (and injury time in those days was maybe a minute or less, not like the 17 minutes we saw recently when we played Swansea at home) Luton had a corner at the right-hand side of the Rookery, at that time the home of the away fans.

My recollection – though probably diminished somewhat by the intervening 43 years – is of an opposition player jumping so high above our defence and firmly heading the ball into the top right-hand corner of the goal.

The away end went nuts. I think my 12-year-old self probably cried.

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Let us hope we don’t have a repeat of that today.

Curious Cryptos’ Commentary – Crypto adoption

Despite finding ourselves in the midst of an ongoing bear market, real businesses are continuing to add crypto functionality to their real-world operations.

For today’s converts I bring you global FX (foreign exchange) giant Oanda (https://www.oanda.com/uk-en/).

In partnership with the Paxos Trust Foundation, a regulated blockchain firm, users of Oanda’s app and website now have crypto trading functionality at their fingertips.

You can read the press release here:

https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/oanda-launches-crypto-trading-service-in-the-us-301654737.html

A couple of choice quotes for you:

“This launch signals the start of an exciting new phase of growth for OANDA, creating significant opportunity in the US market. As the number of Americans seeking exposure to cryptocurrencies grows, it’s becoming clear that digital assets should form part of a unified trading experience for active traders and sophisticated investors.”

Oanda CEO, Gavin Bambury.

"The evolution of institutional investment into cryptos and blockchain technologies has led to a stabilization period that has major players such as Schwab, Citadel, and Fidelity forge ahead with new digital asset offerings in the cryptoverse."

Ed Moya, Senior Market Analyst at OANDA.

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I am going to repeat myself again here, and I make no apologies for doing so.

These companies building crypto functionality are putting in hard cash and senior management resources into doing so.

The only justification is that these initiatives are in response to customer demand, demand that grows daily irrespective of the price of BTC.

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(*) And no, that is not because it is Sunday. The only one of these markets that is not open seven days a week is the treasury market. All the other markets function just as they do on any weekday, though with reduced liquidity, making the probability of an unchanged market even less likely.

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Quiz answers – yep, both sterling and the FTSE are higher today, though the latter shows very marginal gains.

Please note, these comments should not be interpreted as being in support of the mini-budget, they are simply a way of expressing my belief that the standard of market reporting falls far short of what it should be.