Taiwan’s FSC plans crypto draft regulations by September

As the cryptocurrency market anticipates the approval of a spot bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF) in the United States and the subsequent boost to bitcoin’s unit price, Arthur Hayes, Chief Investment Officer (CIO) of family office Maelstrom, has issued a warning of potential market turbulence. Hayes, better known as the founder of crypto derivatives platform BitMEX, has moved on to Hong Kong-based Maelstrom, a family office that invests in early stage infrastructure ventures that implicate a move towards the decentralization of everything.Photo by Kanchanara on UnsplashMacroeconomic risk factorsIn a detailed blog post on Friday, Hayes outlines a number of macroeconomic variables that could lead to a bitcoin unit price downturn. Hayes begins by highlighting the depletion of the Federal Reserve’s reverse repo program (RRP), which has served as a significant driver for risky assets over the past year. This program allows qualified banks and investment firms to park cash and earn interest on it. The RRP balance has rapidly declined from a record high of $2.5 trillion at the end of 2022 to $700 billion. Hayes projects it to reach its historical average of $200 billion by March. As this liquidity source dwindles, he anticipates negative impacts on bonds and stocks, as well as cryptocurrencies. Fed BTFP expirationThe second factor contributing to the potential market turmoil is the expiration of the Bank Term Funding Program (BTFP) on March 12. This crucial Fed facility is designed to provide longer-term loans to commercial banks. The mechanism aids banking sector stability. Hayes is concerned that the BTFP might not be extended. Such an eventuality could lead to bankruptcy for banks holding massive unrealized losses on their bond holdings. It could lead to a “liquidity rug pull” event reminiscent of the banking crisis in March of the previous year. The crypto OG predicts that such an eventuality would force a response. “The combination of a lack of liquidity gushing from the RRP and the lack of printed money to cover the bond losses on banks’ balance sheets will decimate the financial markets globally,” he wrote. Hayes asserts that the combination of reduced liquidity from the RRP and the lack of printed money to cover bond losses could have a global impact on financial markets. In response to this scenario, he predicts that the Fed will cut interest rates during its March 20 meeting and reinstate the BTFP funding line. ‘Healthy’ correctionIn terms of bitcoin’s price, Hayes foresees a “healthy” correction of 20% to 30% from early March prices if the outlined scenario unfolds. However, he suggests the decline could be as much as 40% if BTC rallies to $60,000-$70,000 in the coming weeks. Despite this temporary plunge, Hayes remains optimistic about bitcoin’s resilience, emphasizing its status as a neutral reserve hard currency that is not a liability of the banking system and is traded globally. In a recent podcast appearance, Hayes expressed the view that the business model of U.S. dollar stablecoin issuer Tether will be challenged once multinational banks receive the go-ahead to offer fiat-backed stablecoins. Overall, Arthur Hayes has urged investors to be cautious and to prepare for potential market volatility in March, emphasizing the importance of understanding the interconnected factors influencing both traditional finance and the cryptocurrency market. 

Singaporean regulator, the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS), has awarded cryptocurrency exchange Bitstamp a Major Payment Institution (MPI) trading license.Photo by Julien de Salaberry on UnsplashExpanding into APACIn a blog post published on July 3, Bitstamp proclaimed that it is “globally trusted & now licensed in Singapore.” The company described the acquisition of the license as a milestone that “marks the start of [its] expansion into the APAC region.” It emerged in June 2024 that Bitstamp had been acquired by American trading platform Robinhood. The $200 million acquisition was finally completed last month. Bitstamp signaled last September that it planned to expand its institutional business across Australia and Asia. Earlier this year, parent company Robinhood outlined that it would use Bitstamp to crypto offerings in Singapore in 2025.Acquiring licensesAt that time, Johann Kerbrat, vice-president and general manager of Robinhood Crypto, said that “part of the reason why Bitstamp was attractive was because of their licenses with Singapore, in addition to its institutional business.” This latest license award strengthens the company’s efforts in gaining more traction in Asia. Licensing is all the more relevant given the recent actions of the Singaporean regulator. Last month, MAS set a June 30 deadline for unlicensed crypto firms operating out of the city-state and serving overseas customers to cease offering such services. Over recent years, Singapore has been striving towards establishing itself as a global hub for crypto startups. It has been successful in that endeavor insofar as a whole host of international crypto businesses have established a presence there.  However, its recent move to curb unlicensed firms working out of Singapore in providing services internationally has been interpreted as a much more cautious approach being taken by the Singaporean authorities. The regulator clarified its concerns recently:”MAS has set the bar high for licensing and will generally not issue a licence. The money laundering risks are higher in such business models and if their substantive regulated activity is outside of Singapore, MAS is unable to effectively supervise such persons. Without a licence, such DTSPs [Digital Token Service Providers] will have to cease their regulated activities.”Caution in Singapore to benefit Hong KongSingapore has been competing with cities like Hong Kong to develop and maintain that crypto hub status. Some commentators have expressed the view that Hong Kong will benefit from this latest move in Singapore.  Joshua Chu, a lawyer who co-chairs the Hong Kong Web3 Association, told the South China Morning Post (SCMP) recently that “this is likely to attract quality projects [to Hong Kong] looking for a compliant, liquid, and globally connected base.” In addition to licensing achieved in Asia, Bitstamp has acquired licensing in a number of European countries such as Italy, Spain, France and the Netherlands. Last month, Robinhood launched the trading of tokenized stocks and exchange-traded funds (ETFs) for users resident within the European Union (EU). It also revealed that it is in the process of building out a layer-2 network on top of the Arbitrum blockchain with a view towards using it to host tokenized real-world assets (RWAs).

Animoca Brands, a Hong Kong-based Web3 company focused on blockchain gaming and NFTs, has signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with DayDayCook (DDC) Enterprise Limited in a deal that will see Animoca allocate up to $100 million in Bitcoin with that capital to be exposed to yield enhancement strategies operated by DDC.Photo by Erika Fletcher on UnsplashBitcoin treasury strategyIn a press release published to its website, Animoca Brands claimed that the deal accelerates the Bitcoin accumulation strategy pursued by DDC. Back in May, DDC Enterprise, a Chinese company listed on the Nasdaq in the U.S. while headquartered in Hong Kong, became one of many Nasdaq-listed companies recently to add Bitcoin to its balance sheet.  At that time, it made a symbolic initial 21 BTC purchase, bearing in mind the leading digital asset has a supply cap of 21 million BTC. The company has set out an ambitious plan to build up a Bitcoin treasury of 5,000 BTC over the course of three years. DDC Founder Norma Chu described the development as a “pivotal moment.” ‘Pristine monetary asset’On this occasion, Chu described the partnership with Animoca as a “transformative step,” reflecting the companies’ “shared vision to accelerate Bitcoin’s role as a pristine monetary asset.” As part of the partnership, Animoca Brands Co-Founder and Executive Chairman, Yat Siu, will join DDC’s Bitcoin Visionary Council (BVC). The company established the BVC recently in order to put strategic leadership and guidance in place so that DDC’s Bitcoin-related treasury operations are conducted in accordance with industry standards so as to maximize value creation in the long term. Siu said that the arrangement enables Animoca Brands “to enhance the value of [its] blockchain technologies and maximize the value of [its] Bitcoin holdings.” Commenting further on the partnership, he added: “We will focus on developing strategies to enhance Bitcoin’s value proposition, leveraging DDC’s commitment to advancing corporate Bitcoin treasury solutions." Siu told Cointelegraph that Animoca Brands' belief in the abilities of the DDC founder played a large part in the company establishing the partnership. He said that her background and experience enable her to “bridge the East and West to successfully navigate markets on both sides of the planet,” adding that “she has good appeal and connections to the Chinese market, one of the largest for crypto adoption, while also running a NASDAQ-listed company.” On BitcoinTreasuries.net, a Bitcoin treasury data hub, DDC is listed as 47th in terms of corporations globally that have adopted a Bitcoin treasury strategy, ranked by the amount of Bitcoin that they have accumulated. The website suggests that DDC currently holds 368 BTC, valued at approximately $43.2 million. Following its initial purchase of 21 BTC in May, the company followed up with the acquisition of 38 BTC in June. On July 1, it announced that it had raised $528 million to expand its Bitcoin holdings, with confirmation of a further purchase of 230 BTC by July 7.