The last week of October has been exciting for the cryptocurrency markets. Perhaps the biggest news is that CNBC host and trader Ryan NeuNer reported that Coinbase is working on plans to do an initial public offering (IPO). The exchange has reached 25 million users, 600,000 of which are active traders. It is projected to earn $450 million in revenue in the fourth quarter. If Coinbase does go public, it would be one of first crypto IPOs in history. However, Coinbase also laid off 15 employees this week, a strange move when the blockchain startup is still growing.
Here is the rest of the week in review:
Crypto mining company Bitfury is also considering an IPO. Cofounders Valery Vavilov and Valery Nebesny share a majority stake in the firm. Bitfury has contacted investment banks as it weighs whether to go public in London, Amsterdam, or Hong Kong. It could seek a valuation of $3 to $5 billion, though its revenue was only $450 million in the 12 months before March. This year Bitfury garnered praise by cooling its computers in a special liquid. But the long secular bear market could make Bitfury's potential IPO difficult, if it continues to prolong.
A Chinese court ruled that in spite of the country's ban on cryptocurrency trading, it is legal to be used as property. The Shenzhen Court of International Arbitration ruled that Bitcoin (BTC) should be legally protected as property. The arbitrator reasoned that contractual obligations involving cryptocurrency do not fall under the central bank's September 2017 trading ban. The court added that currently no Chinese law prohibits the possession of BTC or peer-to-peer transactions. Chinese crypto enthusiast should look for regulatory clarity in the near future.
On Wednesday, Tether announced that it had destroyed 500 million units of its controversial USDT token. The supply of the Tether stablecoin token in circulation has decreased to $2 billion. Tether maintains that the token burn is part of a process is called redemption, involving transfers of USDT to Treasury accounts so that the token remains backed by real US dollars. However, criticism that Tether is not fully collateralized has increased this year. The Bitfinex exchange, which owns and manages Tether, has struggled with keeping USDT at dollar parity.
Crypto prices remained in a tight range this week. Market capitalization fell slightly to $209 billion, as BTC has become one of the most stable major coins. In the top 100, the biggest losers are Elastos (ELA), down 32 percent, Vitae (VITAE), down 31 percent, and SmartCash (SMART), down 13 percent. The biggest gainers are Happycoin (HPC), up 392 percent, NIX (NIX), up 67 percent, and Ravencoin (RVN), up 58 percent. The lull in volatility is uncharacteristic, but it could pick up with the midterm elections and new US regulatory decisions.
The author owns a small amount of BTC.