Banks betting big on bitcoin, Binance buying a stake in Forbes and a crypto utopia on a tropical island? These stories and more this week in crypto.
Banking giant Wells Fargo released a report saying it’s not too late to buy Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies. The bank drew a comparison between Bitcoin and internet adoption in the 1990s, arguing that cryptocurrencies followed a similar pattern of adoption, and adding that it often takes many years for real adoption to occur. Meanwhile, another investment bank, JP Morgan, raised its long-term price prediction for BTC to $150,000 – although it did not provide a long-term definition.
The world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange, Binance, is making a $200 million strategic investment in Forbes, the 104-year-old news outlet. Binance will replace half of the institutional investment that was previously committed and the exchange will become one of Forbes’ two main owners.
BlackRock, the world’s largest asset manager, is focused on offering a cryptocurrency trading service to its clients, according to insiders. The New York-based company, which manages over $10 trillion in assets, plans to enter the cryptocurrency space with customer support and then with its own credit facility, meaning that customers could borrow from BlackRock by pledging crypto assets as collateral.
Russia will regulate rather than ban cryptocurrencies. The government and the central bank of Russia have finally reached an agreement and the authorities are currently working on a bill that will define crypto as an analogue of currencies rather than digital financial assets. The news comes after months of speculation that Russia is calling for an industry-wide ban.
The US Department of Justice has seized 94,000 bitcoins from a New York couple accused of the 2016 hack of cryptocurrency exchange Bitfinex. Worth $71 million at the time it was stolen, the recovered bitcoin is now valued at over $3.6 billion. Netflix has already announced that it will tell the story of what it calls “the biggest criminal financial crime case in history”.
The Canadian branch of global accounting firm KPMG has allocated some of its corporate cash to bitcoin and ethereum. KPMG declined to disclose the amount but revealed it had acquired the assets through Gemini’s custody services. The investment reflects their belief that institutional adoption of crypto assets and blockchain technology will continue to grow.
McDonald’s has filed a series of trademarks for a virtual restaurant that will deliver food online in the metaverse. One of the brands involved virtual food and drink products, including NFTs, while another included the operation of an online virtual restaurant with home delivery. The fast-food chain joins a long list of companies planning to cash in on the metaverse.
A retired British property investor aims to turn a small island in Vanuatu into a sustainable smart city for cryptocurrency investors around the world. The island is slated to be an unregulated crypto utopia and was once named Satoshi, after the anonymous inventor of bitcoin.
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That’s what happened this week in crypto, see you next week.