Ozys and Creder to tokenize precious metals

Wallets belonging to the defunct Japanese Bitcoin exchange Mt. Gox have transferred over 140,000 Bitcoin (BTC), valued at approximately $9 billion, to an unknown address.  Sell-off fearsThis significant movement began in the early hours of Tuesday morning in Asia, marking the first such transfer from Mt. Gox’s cold wallets in over five years. Julio Moreno, head of research at CryptoQuant, initially confirmed that 12,239 Bitcoin had been transferred from Mt. Gox over the course of an hour. A short time later, he provided an update on X, stating:"All coins have been transferred to a new address." Despite market disquiet, the prevailing view which subsequently emerged is that the transfer is believed to be part of a plan to distribute assets back to creditors before the October 31, 2024 deadline. Alex Thorn, head of research at Galaxy Digital, shared his perspective on X, suggesting that most of the transferred Bitcoin would likely be held by creditors rather than being sold on the open market. Despite these reassurances, the market reacted negatively for a time. Bitcoin's price dropped by 1.4% since the start of Asian trading hours, falling to a low of $67,680 from a Monday high of over $70,000.Photo by Kanchanara on UnsplashNo Bitcoin FiresaleTo quell fears of a massive Bitcoin sell-off, Mark Karpeles, the former CEO of Mt. Gox, addressed the situation on X. He stated: “As far as I know, everything is fine with MtGox. The trustee is moving coins to a different wallet in preparation for the distribution that will likely happen this year. There is no imminent sale of bitcoins happening." Rehabilitation trustee Nobuaki Kobayashi also issued a press release, clarifying that no sale of Bitcoin or Bitcoin Cash (BCH) had taken place. He assured that the group was "managing bitcoin and bitcoin cash in a secure manner." Wallet activity reveals that these movements were executed through thirteen transactions. A test transaction worth $3 was made on May 20, followed by another smaller transaction of $160 early Tuesday. The remaining transactions varied from $1.2 million to $2.2 billion worth of Bitcoin. Bitinfocharts data shows that all of Mt. Gox's Bitcoin has now been consolidated into a single wallet. A long road to repaymentIn September 2023, Mt. Gox’s trustee announced that the repayment deadline had been extended by 12 months to October 31, 2024. It looked like repayments were imminent in November. However, those communications referenced cash repayments rather than the distribution of Bitcoin and Bitcoin Cash. Some cash repayments had started in December 2023. Speculation in January that the bankruptcy estate would begin the distribution of Bitcoin led to market fears of the impact that would have on the Bitcoin unit price. The extension provided a longer timeframe for preparing the distribution of assets to creditors. Mt. Gox, launched in 2010, quickly rose to prominence, becoming the largest Bitcoin exchange by 2013, handling 70% of all Bitcoin trades worldwide. However, the exchange faced a dramatic downfall in early 2014.  It suspended trading and stopped all withdrawals after losing hundreds of thousands of Bitcoin in a hack. Subsequently, the site went offline, and the company filed for bankruptcy protection after losing over 800,000 Bitcoins. Creditors have been waiting for repayment ever since.

Report by Xangle and Tiger Research Explores Indonesia’s Web3 PotentialIn partnership with South Korean crypto data platform Xangle, Web3 consulting firm Tiger Research has released a report focusing on the Web3 market in Indonesia. This collaborative project also featured contributions from Jakarta-based blockchain game provider Avarik Saga and Hong Kong-headquartered metaverse company Animoca Brands.In the process of crafting this paper, teams from Tiger Research, Xangle, Avarik Saga, and Animoca Brands spent a week in Indonesia, conducting interviews with local experts.Photo by Nick Agus Arya on UnsplashPositive factorsThe report assesses Indonesia’s Web3 market as having significant potential. It highlights factors such as the country’s status as the world’s fourth-largest population, a youthful demographic with a median age of 30, political stability, and favorable policies towards Web3 technologies. The Indonesian government has adopted a favorable approach to the Web3 industry, providing a range of incentives to boost the growth of the Web3 gaming sector. Additionally, they have taken the initiative to establish a dedicated committee for the blockchain sector within the Indonesia Financial Services Authority (OJK).Crypto exchanges driving growthAs per the report, the Indonesian market is primarily propelled by cryptocurrency exchanges, with over 30 exchanges currently in operation. These exchanges serve a customer base of approximately 10 million individuals, which accounts for around 4% of the country’s population. This is comparable to the number of investors on the Indonesia stock exchange.Several challengesMeanwhile, the paper also highlighted several areas where the world’s largest archipelagic state faces challenges. One of these challenges is its non-fungible token (NFT) market, which has seen a consistent decline in recent months, hitting an all-time low. It was found that most individuals prefer global NFT marketplaces over local ones. Furthermore, concerning the development of the Web3 ecosystem, the shortage of blockchain developers has prompted startups to seek development services overseas.

Many commentators in the crypto space were pointing to a lowering of interest rates last week by the Federal Reserve in the United States as being a positive development for the pricing of digital assets. However, the introduction of a stimulus package to revive the Chinese economy may also have a role to play. Stimulus packageBloomberg reported on Sept. 24 that People’s Bank of China Governor Pan Gongsheng had cut a key short-term interest rate. Furthermore, the Bank of China governor plans to implement a reduction in the reserve requirements that are applied to the country’s banks. The Reserve Requirement Ration (RRR) will be cut by 50 basis points, which will mean that $142 billion will be freed up for new lending.  Additionally, a package of measures has been introduced to rejuvenate China’s beleaguered real estate market, lowering the borrowing costs related to $5.3 trillion in mortgages.Photo by Eric Prouzet on UnsplashBullish for crypto?Jamie Coutts, chief crypto analyst at financial research platform Real Vision, took to X to comment on the development. Coutts wrote: “The bottom is in for global central bank liquidity for this cycle. Sit back and watch the other CBs fall into line. In a credit-based fiat fractional reserve system, debasement is a feature, not a bug.” Coutts signed off with a “Bitcoin” hashtag, with the inference that the development will have positive implications for Bitcoin. Similarly, market analysts at Singaporean crypto-asset trading firm QCP Capital perceive the move as being bullish for crypto and risk assets more generally. QCP Capital analysts stated: "We believe more easing is coming from the People's Bank of China (PBoC), and they have communicated as much, and combined with the U.S. Federal Reserve joining the global cutting cycle, all major central banks, except Bank of Japan, are now ready to inject more liquidity into the market. The macro space continues to look more and more bullish for risk assets, including crypto."  Taking that consideration further, the QCP Capital analysts suggest that market participants in the crypto space may be caught off guard by a resultant uptick in crypto pricing, stating: "We know how explosive crypto prices can be, and with so many bullish catalysts, we think the next move higher will leave many people surprised and sidelined.” Fed rate cutsMany market commentators were similarly enthused last week following an announcement in the U.S. by Jerome Powell, Federal Reserve Chairman, of a 50 basis point rate cut, with the suggestion that further cuts may be implemented going forward. However, not all market pundits are of the same view. Some believe that small interest rate cuts occurring in an overall high rates environment won’t move the needle and that it’s only in a zero rates environment where Bitcoin and crypto skyrocket.  Arthur Hayes, co-founder of BitMEX and Chief Investment Officer (CIO) at the Maelstrom Fund, asserted in his keynote speech at TOKEN2049 in Singapore last week that he wasn’t enthusiastic about rate cuts driving crypto.  “While I think a lot of people are looking forward to a rate cut, meaning that they think the stock market and other things are going to pump up the jam, I think the markets are going to collapse a few days after the Fed’s rates,” he stated. Markets didn’t collapse subsequently although it seems that they are responding to this latest monetary stimulus introduced by China.