3rd June 2024 > > New crypto demand & a warning.

tl;dr

Four potential new sources of demand for BTC and other cryptos can only be positive. Two exchanges appear to have publicly announced their own internal systems and procedural inadequacies.

Market Snap

Market Wrap

A positive start to the week out of Asia presumably in the expectation that the ETFs will continue to experience daily net inflows.

Rumours are circulating that one of the two leading US Presidential candidates has asked for advice on how the US government could make use of BTC to solve the US debt problem. If this were to be true (unfortunately it seems very unlikely to me) just imagine the price reaction to the news that the US government is adding BTC to its reserves. Oh boy.

Curious Cryptos’ Commentary – ETFs

Ripple Labs CEO Brad Garlinghouse may be a little biased in his outlook for XRP:

“I think it’s just a matter of time, and it’s inevitable there’s gonna be an XRP ETF, there’s gonna be a Solana (SOL) ETF, there’s gonna be a Cardano (ADA) ETF, and that’s great.” 

We can only hope his optimism is not misplaced.

Curious Cryptos’ Commentary – Australia

Australia’s first spot BTC ETF will start trading tomorrow.

Curious Cryptos’ Commentary – Hong Kong

New crypto regulations came into effect from June 1st for Hong Kong.

The primary objective is the approval of licensed crypto trading platforms. Operating without a license is now a criminal offense. I suspect being subject to Chinese law enforcement has the potential to be a distressing experience.

The requirements for gaining a license are much as one would expect, such as AML and KYC procedures, segregation of clients’ funds, regular audits, high standards of IT security and asset custody, amongst others. All very sensible and all very necessary to foster trust in the centralised cryptocurrency exchanges that gain a license.

To date, two such platforms have been approved, with another eleven pending applications.

This development is clearly a precursor to a much wider rollout of crypto services into the Chinese mainland since the “one country two systems” agreement reached when the UK relinquished its position as a protector of Hong Kong’s democracy and human rights was abandoned by President Xi and his murderous henchmen.

What I also find interesting is that OKx and Gate have ceased operations in Hong Kong presumably because they would fail to reach the regulatory standards required. If that is the case, I would be mightily concerned if I had any assets at OKx or Gate, which I don’t. If you do, I suggest you think long and hard about whether that is the right decision or not.