The Disrupt

“Bitcoin dropped to one and a half-month lows Monday, alongside sharp losses in global equity markets and other growth-sensitive risk assets such as industrial metals, oil and commodity-dependent currencies. The broad-based risk aversion may have just begun as futures tied to the S&P 500 Index have convincingly breached the long-held 50-day moving average support.

Bitcoin, falling nearly 10% today, is suffering from the broader market pessimism fueled by reports of a debt crisis at China’s Evergrande Group.

The S&P 500 has pulled back more than 4% from its recent high of $4,540. Analysts at investment banking giant Morgan Stanley foresee an even deeper correction. ‘The typical mid-cycle ‘fire’ outcome would lead to a modest and healthy 10% correction in the S&P 500. However, the ‘ice’ scenario is starting to look more likely, and could result in a more destructive outcome – i.e. a 20%+ correction.’

The market may bounce back, restoring the risk appetite, if the Federal Reserve pushes plans to scale back its stimulus out to 2022. Some observers are worried Wednesday’s statement from the Fed’s Open Markets Committee may announce that the Fed will begin to taper its stimulus in October or November.

The 22 September FOMC will likely signal a tapering decision at the next meeting.”

See Also: Bitcoin in Pullback Mode, Support at $40K-$42K
See Also: Here’s why Bitcoin might be safe from a global stock market crisis
See Also: El Salvador acts on Bitcoin price dip and buys 150 BTC

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“Because stablecoins serve as a bridge from the traditional financial world to cryptocurrencies, the amount of regulation could either add to investor comfort to using crypto or act to curtail the still-emerging industry.

That the mainstream Times with its paper-of-record reputation and deep D.C. connections saw fit to give it a full treatment indicates with near-certainty that such regulation is coming. The only remaining questions would seem to be how much regulation is coming, of what form it will take and which part of government will do the regulating.

According to the Times, here are the most likely options that regulators could use to corral stablecoins:

1. Designate them as a risk to the system.
2. Call them “securities.”
3. Treat them as money-market mutual funds.
4. Regulate them like they’re banks.
5. Issue a competing central bank digital currency (CBDC). However, given privacy concerns related to CBDCs, a U.S. CBDC is unlikely to substantially attract users away from stablecoins, the article observes.”

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“The lending product was supposed to power a crypto savings account that would earn customers a 4% annual percentage yield (APY), a return that’s multiples higher than most savings accounts at traditional banks.

The SEC said Lend would violate long-standing securities regulations. Coinbase’s decision also comes on the heels of state securities regulators issuing warnings to crypto lending platforms BlockFi and Celsius, claiming these companies’ products violate state securities laws.”

See Also: Coinbase, With 9K Institutions Already Enlisted, Launches ‘Prime’ Out of Beta
See Also: Paxos Adds ABN AMRO to Service for Settling US Trades

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“Security token specialist Polymath announced Monday its institutional-grade blockchain built specifically for regulated assets – Polymesh – will go live next month, with a target launch date of Oct. 13. Issuing tokenized assets on blockchains opens up a super-efficient realm of new possibilities.

Polymesh, a standalone blockchain built using Substrate, the same framework Polkadot is built on, will launch with 14 financially regulated entities acting as operators running validator nodes, including the likes of Entoro Capital, Tokenise and the Gibraltar Stock Exchange (GSX).

Polymesh has a forkless architecture and also a concept of identity at the base layer, so you have to go through a KYC process.”

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“So far, only four exchanges – Upbit, Bithumb, Coinone and Korbit – have fully registered and satisfied the KFIU’s requirements.

According to Reuters, 40 exchanges have not registered at all and may cease operations on Friday. Twenty-eight other exchanges have registered with KFIU but have not yet secured bank partnerships. These will be allowed to continue operating partially, but will not be able to make settlements in won.”

See Also: ‘We are at war’ with crypto, says Turkish President Erdoğan

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“The new Fortune Journalism PleasrFund was launched on the Ethereum blockchain through Endaoment, a charity-focused decentralized autonomous organization. So far, the fund has been allocated 214.55 Ether (ETH), worth roughly $660,000 at current prices.

The first four beneficiaries of the fund are Report for America/The GroundTruth Project Inc., Institute for Nonprofit News, Committee to Protect Journalists Inc. and Reporters Without Borders.

Many existing nonprofits have also begun accepting cryptocurrency donations, as evidenced by recent efforts to help Afghans displaced by the Taliban takeover of the country following the United States’ withdrawal. To that end, New York-based grassroots organization Hearts & Homes for Refugees announced it was accepting donations in nearly a dozen cryptocurrencies. In January, the American Cancer Society launched the first-ever Crypto Cancer Fund, giving donors another avenue through which to contribute to the organization.”