Huobi Global announced Sunday that it will stop serving existing China-based users by the end of this year amid the government's increasingly harsh crackdown, plunging its native Huobi Token (HT) to fresh eight-month lows.
The prominent Seychelles-based exchange founded in China and listed in Hong Kong wrote: "Huobi Global will gradually retire existing Mainland China user accounts by 24:00 (UTC+8) on Dec 31, 2021, and ensure the safety of users' assets."
The firm had previously suspended new registrations for Chinese users, taking note of the People's Bank of China's Friday edict that declared all virtual currency-related business illegal. Huobi Token cratered below $6 on major exchanges, reaching the lowest price since January. The coins of other trading venues and projects sensitive to China are also facing increased selling pressure. Seychelles-based exchange OKEx's OKB token fell to a five-week low of $7 Sunday.
Here is the rest of the week in review:
Coinbase (NASDAQ: COIN) wants to help guide any emerging regulation on crypto exchanges including itself for more favorable outcomes. Coinbase CEO and founder Brian Armstrong revealed in an interview with TechCrunch that the premier U.S. exchange is working on a draft regulatory framework for consideration by lawmakers and plans to release the draft within the next month. Armstrong said: "Coinbase wants to be an advisor and a helpful advocate for how the U.S. can create that sensible regulation." He noted: "Because right now, Coinbase has 50 different state regulators for money transmission licenses, 50 for lending licenses, you know, FINCEN, SEC, CFTC, IRS and Treasury and OFAC." He asserted federal lawmakers have asked him multiple times for a proposal. Regulators often seek industry feedback when creating new rules, especially in industries with a rapid pace of technological advancements. Armstrong believes a single federal framework would help alleviate the patchwork regulatory burden of US crypto firms and hopes Coinbase's ideas will move policy forward.
Amplify, Invesco (NYSE: IVZ), and Galaxy Digital filed to request SEC approval of 2 new crypto asset exchange-traded fund products. Invesco and Galaxy jointly filed a registration statement for a physically backed Bitcoin (BTC) ETF, which would track the target index by holding all or some of the underlying assets. Also, crypto exchange and decentralized finance (DeFi) firm Amplify filed for a novel crypto ETF. The Amplify ETF would invest in Bitcoin futures, Canadian Bitcoin funds, and firms that hold over 50% of their net assets in Bitcoin, Ether (ETH), or another "liquid" coin. Amplify's filing projects: "Initially, the Fund expects to directly invest up to 15% of its total assets in Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (OTC: GBTC) and Canadian Bitcoin ETFs investing in Bitcoin." Both applications are long shots, as the SEC has yet to approve a crypto ETF but must make a final decision on the VanEck Bitcoin ETF by November. Invesco also expects a determination on its futures-linked Bitcoin ETF in October.
Crypto prices fell to $1.929 trillion this week, due to China's intensified crackdown. For the majors, all except stablecoins slipped, with Binance Coin (BNB) and Polkadot (DOT) posting the worst double-digit losses. In the top 100, the biggest losers were Huobi Token, down 47%, Filecoin (FIL), down 32%, and Audius (AUDIO), down 28%. The biggest gainers were Celer Network (CELR), up 67%, XDC Network (XDC), up 11%, and REN, up 9%. Next week traders will see if the regulatory-driven selloff continues.
The author owns a small amount of BTC.