As the fourth week of October unfolded, big moves were made in the world of blockchains and cryptocurrencies. Perhaps the biggest news that occurred if that Chinese President Xi Jinping praised blockchain and called on China to research and develop it. On Thursday, at the 18th collective study of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee, Xi said the country needs to "seize the opportunity" afforded by blockchain technology. He added that blockchain tech offers a wide array of applications within China, on topics ranging from financing business to mass transit and poverty relief. "We must take the blockchain as an important breakthrough for independent innovation of core technologies," Xi told committee members, adding that China must "clarify the main direction, increase investment, focus on a number of key core technologies, and accelerate the development of blockchain technology and industrial innovation." Xi also urged a top-down approach toward implementation and regulation. The Chinese President's remarks on blockchain are his first in-depth comments on the technology, and the central bank is working on a digital yuan (RMB) to debut soon.
Here is the rest of the week in review:
The U.S. Treasury Department committed to monitoring the Facebook's (NASDAQ: FB) Libra stablecoin project. On Tuesday, a day before CEO Mark Zuckerberg's House testimony, Congressman Emanuel Cleaver said he wrote to the Financial Stability Oversight Council and the Office of Financial Research in August calling on the regulators to "proactively examine Libra and Calibra for possible systemic risk." Treasury sent a reply to Cleaver, confirming that Libra poses many unanswered questions and the department will actively and closely monitor the market to identify and address any regulatory gaps. Treasury added it is unclear if US and foreign regulators will have the ability to monitor the Libra market and warned Facebook must address the concern before launching Libra. Cleaver applauded Facebook's efforts to work with regulators but noted the stablecoin can potentially update or upend the global financial system.
Bakkt, an Intercontinental Exchange (NYSE: ICE) subsidiary, will launch new Bitcoin (BTC) options contracts. Bakkt announced Thursday it would debut the crypto industry's first regulated options contract for Bitcoin futures on December 9, adding a new product beyond physically-settled Bitcoin futures contracts. CEO Kelly Loeffler said: "The Bakkt Bitcoin Options contract will be based on the benchmark Bakkt Monthly Bitcoin Futures contract and represents another important step in developing this asset class for institutional investors, their customers, and investors." Customers will have the choice of options contracts settled with cash, meaning customers can receive physical BTC or the dollar equivalent to the contract's value at expiration. Besides options, Bakkt is launching a market maker program to boost trading of its monthly BTC contract, according to a letter sent to the Commodity Futures Trading Commission.
Crypto prices jumped to $252 billion this week. For the majors, only Tether (USDT) slipped, while Bitcoin SV (BSV), Bitcoin Cash (BCH), and Bitcoin posted outsized double-digit gains. In the top 100, the biggest losers were 0x (ZRX), down 14%, Swipe (SXP), down 14%, and LUNA (LUNA), down 9%. The biggest gainers were Bytom (BTM), up a whopping 187%, Ontology (ONT), up 64%, and NEO (NEO), up 63%. Next week traders will see if crypto can keep above the psychologically important $250 billion level.
The author owns a small amount of BTC.