The U.S. Treasury Department on Friday proposed new rules that would require U.S. users to provided personal information before sending over $10,000 per day from an exchange-hosted wallet to a private crypto wallet. Exchanges would also need to store and submit store records involving transactions with a total value over $10,000 in a given reporting period, or instead maintain records for transactions over $3,000.
Users and exchanges would be required to provide detailed personal information to the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN). The rule would bring crypto closer in line with the traditional banking system, but it would severely undermining blockchain technology's promise of privacy and self-sovereignty. The Treasury said the rule would close "loopholes" around virtual currency transaction reporting. The general public can submit comments or feedback on the proposal until January 4, 2021. The crypto space feels strongly against the rule, as Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong dreaded that the Trump administration was preparing a rushed data compliance rule.
Here is the rest of the week in review:
Christopher Wood, global head of equity strategy at investment firm Jefferies (NYSE: JEF), decreased his exposure to gold for the first time in years in favor of Bitcoin (BTC), Business Standard reported. Wood will reportedly be cutting the gold holdings in his long-only asset allocation for U.S. dollar-based pension funds from 50% to 45% from and taking a 5% stake in BTC instead. While remaining bullish on the yellow metal, Wood said he will add more BTC to the fund if the coin's price declines significantly. He reportedly had previously avoided investing in BTC due to fears of being hacked and that the crypto could have been declared illegal due to its use for illicit purposes. The report says Wood is seeing a "dramatic cyclical recovery" in Asian stocks and gold miners after the COVID-19 pandemic ends. The move by Wood marks another sign Wall Street is growing more bullish on and comfortable with the crypto asset class.
One River Asset Management became the latest crypto whale, after the hedge fund specializing in volatility bets bought over $600 million in cryptos and partnered with Alan Howard, the billionaire cofounder of Brevan Howard Asset Management, Bloomberg reported. One River CEO Eric Peters said he established a new firm to seize on the growing interest in cryptocurrencies among institutional investors. He added that beyond its initial purchases that cost below $16,000 per BTC, One River has commitments that will bring its holdings of Bitcoin and Ethereum (ETH) to about $1 billion by early 2021, out of a $1.6 billion portfolio. He noted bullish sentiment: "There is going to be a generational allocation to this new asset class. The flows have only just begun." Peters revealed his goal is to construct a "blue-chip fiduciary" for institutional clients seeking exposure to digital assets, and thus will not be trading aggressively or investing in venture capital.
Crypto prices soared to $671 billion this week, thanks to Bitcoin's record-shattering surge. For the majors, Litecoin (LTC) and Bitcoin Cash (BCH) posted outsized gains. In the top 100, the biggest losers were Ampleforth (AMPL), down 16%, and Waves (WAVES), down 14%. The biggest gainers were SwissBorg (CHSB), up a whopping 112%, and Elrond (EGLD), up 55%. Next week traders will see if Bitcoin approaches $25,000 or does a pullback.
The author owns a small amount of BTC and LTC.