Last week, Guggenheim Funds Trust filed an amendment with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission in order to allow its $5 billion Macro Opportunities Fund gain exposure to Bitcoin (BTC) by investing up to 10% of the fund's net asset value in the Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (OTC: GBTC), an exchange-traded investment trust. According to the amendment filed, "The Guggenheim Macro Opportunities Fund may seek investment exposure to Bitcoin indirectly through investing up to 10% of its net asset value in Grayscale Bitcoin Trust ("GBTC"), a privately offered investment vehicle that invests in Bitcoin. To the extent the Fund invests in GBTC, it will do so through the Subsidiary."
According to Fidelity, the Macro Opportunities Fund has net assets of $4.97 billion, which means the fund can invest up to $497 million in Grayscale. The Macro Opportunities Fund is part of Guggenheim Investments, the global asset management and investment advisory division of Guggenheim Partners, which hold over $233 billion in total assets across fixed income, equity, and alternative strategies.
Here is the rest of the week in review:
Coinbase announced Tuesday it is ending its margin trading service, writing: "We believe clear, common sense regulations for margin lending products are needed to protect and provide peace of mind to U.S customers. We look forward to working closely with regulators to achieve this goal." Coinbase said it will remove the margin trading feature entirely next month, once existing positions expire. The major exchange noted "recent guidance" from the CFTC, referring to the Commission's March guidance around "actual delivery" of digital assets as the reason for the decision. Coinbase argued it would be difficult, if not impossible, for it to comply with a CFTC requirement that neither it nor any affiliated entity can have any control over a cryptocurrency once it has been delivered via margin. In the past, Coinbase has written to the CFTC arguing affiliates of the seller should be able to hold coins. Essentially, Coinbase would need to register with the CFTC as a commodities exchange if it wants to offer leveraged products, and it chose to shutter the margin service instead.
Libra, Facebook's (NASDAQ: FB) stablecoin project that has faced regulatory scrutiny, could be launched as early as January 2021 in a more limited version. According to a report by the Financial Times on Friday, Libra may release a single US dollar-pegged stablecoin next year, according to "three people involved in the initiative." The global project was initially to be pegged to a basket composed of multiple fiat currencies, but the idea was scrapped due to heat from global regulators. Libra noted it could launch as a series of stablecoins, each pegged to a fiat currency, instead of one basket. Now, pending approval from the Swiss financial regulator FINMA, Libra's stablecoin will just debut as a single coin backed 1 to 1 by the dollar. But the other currencies in the basket and the composite may be rolled out later. Even with its limited format, the stablecoin could face regulatory pressure in the US.
Crypto prices ended at $538.8 billion this week, seeing a correction from Bitcoin's nearly all-time high. For the majors, Ripple (XRP) and Cardano (ADA) surged, while Chainlink (LINK) and Polkadot (DOT) slipped. In the top 100, the biggest losers were Aragon (ANT), down 22%, and Energy Web Token (EWT), down 19%. The biggest gainers were Stellar (XLM), up a whopping 88%, and Horizen (ZEN), up 79%. Next week traders will keep watching Bitcoin.
The author owns a small amount of BTC.