A great day to all Hivers, Lions, and other tribes!
I have been inactive for the last four days because I have been busy with our school activities such as the Banquet Night, 40th Foundation Day, Dedication of Jubaro Mission Center, Alumni Homecoming, Tulip Garden Ribbon Cutting, In The Name Of Love (ITNOL) Art Exhibit, and 37th Commencement Exercises.
Anyhow, after such a long rest, what I would like to share is about the three articles I read yesterday related to Coinbase, Mastercard, and Fidelity.
More Entertainment in the Coming Days
Five days ago, I concluded with my 3Speak video and transcript about BlackRock and the Long-Awaited Bull Market that there will be more entertainment in the coming days surrounding the narrative of legal cases against crypto exchanges.
I shared such an opinion after realizing that there are pension funds for public employees both in California and Texas that are managed by BlackRock. We see that BlackRock is really a big name in the investment world and even managed sovereign wealth funds of countries like Kuwait, Abu Dhabi, and Japan and not to mention that even central banks are part of its clients.
With such a gigantic influence and the fact that BlackRock’s move to Bitcoin ETF has been considered the catalyst to the recent run in the crypto space, I am now thinking about whether the SEC can sustain its attack on the cryptocurrency space by filing cases against centralized crypto exchanges. With BlackRock’s action, it is anticipated that a large percentage of professional investors are now considering investing in cryptocurrency.
Coinbase Submitting a Motion to Dismiss the Case
Continuing the clown show, just this afternoon, I read an article from cointelegraph.com about Coinbase submitting a motion to dismiss the lawsuit that the SEC has brought against it. The argument sounds familiar. It looks like the same complaint expressed by Ripple I think a year ago. Coinbase contends in the court filing that the SEC is acting outside of its legal authority and that even if the accusations are true, there is no legal basis for the case.
According to Coinbase, the SEC's interpretation of securities regulations for some digital currencies departs dramatically from the existing rules. The legal team for the exchange further notes that Coinbase's registration statement was authorized by the SEC in 2021, enabling the business to go public and trade a variety of tokens, including the ones that are the subject of the current dispute. If this is true, it is really comical to see the SEC arbitrarily changing the rules. It appears that the commission is contradicting its earlier decision.
Let the SEC continue its entertainment while new names are following BlackRock by investing in cryptocurrency.
Mastercard’s MTN
And one such name is Mastercard, “the second-largest payment processing corporation worldwide.” Though Mastercard is pro-regulation, its app store, the Multi-Token Network (MTN) is powered by blockchain technology. MTN will give programmers the resources they need to build cutting-edge apps for the blockchain and digital asset ecosystems. I think Hive has been doing these already for years. So, this is not new. The only thing new here is the inclusion of the private version of the Ethereum blockchain.
MTN’s beta version will be accessible in the UK for use by central banks, fintechs, and financial institutions for testing and development. For Mastercard, this project is a significant advancement in the field of cryptocurrency and seeks to boost public confidence in the future of the space.
As for me, this development is an indication that another big name in the payment processing industry sees an opportunity in cryptocurrency, which appears to me the exact opposite of the current stance of the SEC in the US. Through its MTN project, Mastercard is showing its interest in cutting-edge financial technologies. Moreover, the financial firm is taking an active role in a number of cryptocurrencies, blockchain, and central bank digital currency (CBDC) projects.
Fidelity Investments
Fidelity Investments, an American multinational financial services corporation is another big name to follow BlackRock by introducing the Wise Origin Bitcoin Trust, a spot Bitcoin ETF. This is according to a cryptoglobe.com article.
We are also informed that firms like Invesco and WisdomTree will join the race. Again, the name of BlackRock was mentioned for this increasing interest in the crypto space. By the way, if Fidelity has Wise Origin Bitcoin Trust, BlackRock has iShares. I wonder what will be the names of other Bitcoin ETFs that will be introduced by Invesco and Wisdom Tree.
According to Fidelity, a spot Bitcoin ETF would help address the SEC’s concern about protecting investors from capital loss. I know that like me, many of you no longer believe that this is the real intention of the SEC in its current aggressive stance against crypto. There is this idea that the SEC chair by its recent action is actually harming small investors in favor of huge investors in Wall Street. Anyhow, as for this protection narrative, they want us to believe that this Bitcoin ETF will shield investors from losses similar to what happened in FTX and LUNA due to exchange and custodian failures.
I think that’s all I can say about this clown show and new names riding the Bitcoin ETF thing.
Grace and peace!
Note: I used a portion of this article in the 3Speak video where I talked about The SEC Clown Show and New Names Riding the Bitcoin ETF Thing.