The last week of November was exciting for the cryptocurrency markets. Perhaps the biggest news is that State Street (NYSE: STT) is waiting for client interest in cryptocurrency to grow. On Thursday t the American Banker BlockFS conference in New York, Jay Biancamano, State Street's managing director for digital product development and innovation, stated there is a high level of interest. However, he also explained: "There is no sense of urgency on the part of our clients to move into these assets right now. When they do, we want to meet them there." Biancamano added that State Street, one of the world's largest institutional custodians, is looking forward to a future with the tokenization and digitalization of traditional assets with blockchain.
Here is the rest of the week in review:
In a push to convince the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to approve a rule change which would open the door for the country's first Bitcoin (BTC) exchange-traded fund (ETF), three firms met with the SEC's Division of Corporation Finance, Division of Trading and Markets, Division of Economic and Risk Analysis and Office of General Counsel. VanEck, SolidX and the Cboe BZX Exchange argued that Bitcoin market is mature enough to support an ETF, and looks similar to markets for crude oil, silver, and gold, which already have ETFs. A day later, SEC Chair Jay Clayton said concerns about market manipulation prevent an ETF approval.
The SEC settled charges with professional boxer Floyd Mayweather Jr. and music producer DJ Khaled for not disclosing that they were paid to promote initial coin offerings (ICOs). The regulator said on Thursday that Mayweather received $100,000 from Centra Tech, as well as another $200,000 from Stox and Hubii Network. Khaled was paid $50,000 to promote Centra Tech, according to the agency. Neither celebrity admitted to or denied the charges in their settlements. Mayweather will pay $300,000 in disgorgement, $300,000 in penalties, and $14,775 in prejudgment interest. Khaled will pay $50,000 in disgorgement, $100,000 in penalties, and $2,725 in prejudgment interest. They are also banned from promoting securities for a short period. The SEC has recently hardened on enforcing securities laws in crypto.
Crypto prices fell again slightly to the $130 billion market cap level. In the top 100, the biggest losers are Nexty (NTY), down 31 percent, BridgeCoin (BCO), down 29 percent, and Tezos (XTZ), down 19 percent. The biggest gainers are Tao (XTO), up 92 percent, Bitcoin Private (BTCP), up 55 percent, and Waves (WAVES), up 48 percent. Many coins have fallen to or below their early 2017 prices in the November crash.
The author owns a small amount of BTC.