7th November 2023 > > Crypto adoption.

tl;dr

Global crypto adoption just will not stop.

Market Sna

Market Wrap

XRP (Ripple) is getting a lot of press attention. I guess being up nearly 50% in a month will do that for you. I have always had mixed feelings about XRP – there is a cult-like tendency around it which makes me feel uncomfortable. The CC Treasury Committee did make the decision to get involved for the first time in October 2022, so that is a pretty good trade return-wise, but one made against my advice – the whole CBDC thing is likely to not end well.

Curious Cryptos’ Commentary – DZ Bank

DZ Bank has announced its own crypto custody solution for institutional investors:

https://www.dzbank.de/content/dzbank/de/home/die-dz-bank/presse/pressemitteilungen/2023/kryptoassets--dz-bank-startet-eigene-digitalverwahrplattform-.html

The press release makes clear that an equivalent product for retail customers is in the pipeline.

Both initiatives are exciting enough in themselves, demonstrating again the extent and depth of client demand to enter the crypto space, but the vision goes even further. Over to Dr. Holger Meffert, Head of Securities Services & Digital Storage at DZ:

“We assume that within the next ten years, significant shares of the capital market business will be processed via distributed ledger technology (DLT) based infrastructures. In the medium term, we see the DLT as a complementary technology to the established infrastructures in the existing capital market processes.”

Capital market transactions are measured in the trillions every day. Efficiency in the execution and recording of these transactions is key not just to banks, but to society, as a means of reducing the cost of capital for businesses as they grow. DLT is the most powerful tool for achieving that end.

No use cases for blockchain technology? Pah to you, Sir.

Curious Cryptos’ Commentary – Hong Kong

Hong Kong has further liberalised its regulations around cryptos, now conceding that regular retail investors can buy spot crypto ETFs.

We know that the authorities in Hong Kong cannot do this without the personal approval of genocidal President Xi and his murderous henchmen. This makes me curious about their motivations for allowing a technological development that promises freedom and liberty for the masses, two concepts so alien to dictators, autocrats, and members of the Chinese Communist Party. Or any member of any Communist Party for that matter.

The CCC team welcomes this apparent liberalisation on an island bordering the Chinese mainland, but one cannot be sure that these gains will not one day be taken away again.