“Goldman Sachs is among a handful of tier-one U.S. banks figuring out how to use bitcoin as collateral for cash loans to institutions. It’s an opportunity that lays the groundwork for more integrated crypto prime brokerage services in the future. It’s also a continuation of Wall Street’s relatively sudden embrace of a $2.7 trillion asset class.
Emulating tri-party repo type arrangements (a way of borrowing funds by selling securities with an agreement to repurchase them, involving a third-party agent), banks are exploring ways to follow the same path of not touching bitcoin, like other synthetic products.
Goldman is not alone; a handful of big banks are following the trail blazed by crypto-friendly banks Silvergate and Signature, both of which announced bitcoin-backed cash loans earlier this year. Coinbase and Fidelity Digital Assets were cited as potential custodians the banks were in discussions with.
We’ve probably spoken to half a dozen big banks about [bitcoin-backed loans].”
See Also: Goldman Sachs Sees Crypto Options Markets as ‘Next Big Step’ for Institutional Adoption
“Mercado Libre, Latin America’s largest e-commerce company by market value, is integrating Paxos’ blockchain infrastructure to allow users in Brazil to buy, sell and hold cryptocurrencies. Mercado Pago’s new initiative will provide crypto and stablecoin access to more than 200 million Brazilians.
Starting later this month, users of Mercado Pago, Mercado Libre’s digital wallet, will be able to buy and sell bitcoin, ether and the stablecoin Pax dollar (USDP). Paxos will handle crypto trading and custody for Mercado Pago users in an arrangement similar to its integration with PayPal in late 2020.
This will accelerate mainstream adoption of cryptocurrency and stablecoins across the continent.”
“The Commission concludes that BZX has not met its burden under the Exchange Act and the Commission’s Rules of Practice to demonstrate that its proposal is consistent with the requirement that the rules of a national securities exchange be ‘designed to prevent fraudulent and manipulative acts and practices’ and ‘to protect investors and the public interest.’
The decision comes seven months after the regulator said it would start evaluating the WisdomTree Bitcoin Trust, which the ETF giant filed with the Cboe BZX exchange in March. The agency delayed its decision in June and again in July.”
See Also: Fidelity Canada officially launches Bitcoin ETF and Bitcoin Mutual Fund
See Also: First NFT-focused ETF lists on NYSE Arca
“Electronic music producer deadmau5 and rock band Portugal. The Man are looking to non-fungible tokens (NFTs), not music streaming services, to sell their next platinum record. The artists’ newest song “this is fine” is being sold exclusively as a collection of 1 million NFTs on the Mintbase NFT marketplace, which runs on the Near blockchain, with tokens going on sale Thursday.
In a rarity for a music landscape dominated by platforms like Apple Music and Spotify, the artists’ election to circumvent streaming services, and the largely unfavorable revenue sharing that accompanies them, is indicative of how musicians have been willing to experiment with blockchain to disrupt industry standards.
It’s not about me working to better my bank account, it’s about all artists working to gain more control of their work.”
“Speculation in online channels is that the hack is the result of an exploit in the Badger.com user interface, and not in the core protocol contracts. Many affected users report that while claiming yield farming rewards and interacting with Badger vaults, they noticed their wallet providers prompting spurious requests for additional permissions.
It looks like a bunch of users had approvals set for the exploit address allowing [the address] to operate on their vault funds.”
See Also: Square Stock Drops 6% Amid Block Rebrand
The Disrupt 